Welcome to the second Diagnostics Accelerator Investigators’ Meeting!
Since its 2018 launch, the Diagnostics Accelerator (DxA) has fostered a bold vision of setting a new gold standard for non-invasive and affordable biomarkers for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’ disease and related dementias. The recent approval of aducanumab demonstrates the value of biomarkers in clinical trials and the need for a low-cost, non-invasive way to identify the right patients for disease modifying treatment. However, due to the heterogeneity of the disease, the best approach to diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases will likely require a combination approach involving multiple biological pathways. The Diagnostics Accelerator has striven for a diverse portfolio of emerging biomarkers to assess the different facets of disease more fully. The goal is precision medicine for neurodegenerative disease.
This year’s investigators’ meeting promises to be another exciting opportunity for DxA-funded researchers to share their research and discuss the work of others on fluid, ocular, and digital biomarkers. And with investments made to a diverse group of more than three dozen researchers globally, we are sure you will be as amazed as we are at the ingenuity on display.
Over three days in October, we will welcome participants virtually and will hear from leading academic scientists, entrepreneurs, startup companies, funding organizations, and others who are part of this collaborative effort.
Here is some of what to expect this year:
- Data-driven updates from our earliest funded investigators
- Updates on digital biomarker projects
- Posters from more recently funded investigators to allow for in-depth review of study design, rationale and planned work
- Expert panels and in-depth Q&A sessions
- Virtual breakout rooms to foster collaboration and interaction between DxA investigators, funders and pharma partners
As always, we are grateful for the vision and support of ADDF’s Co-Founder/Co-Chair Leonard A. Lauder and Bill Gates and all the core funders, including the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, and others to bring the focus, resources and urgency required to advance the development of diagnostic tools.
We hope that you all will take this opportunity to connect with your fellow investigators so we can all learn from one other and exchange ideas to further accelerate everyone’s research and the field as a whole.
We look forward to a thought-provoking and insightful meeting.
Best Wishes,
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Howard Fillit, MD Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation |
Niranjan Bose, PhD Managing Director of Health & Life Sciences Gates Ventures |
Diagnostics Accelerator
These awards focus on true collaboration among renowned clinicians, who are directly involved in patient care and understand the disease, scientists who are developing the tests, and diagnostics companies that understand the regulatory pathways – driving research and product development.
MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

25 Podium Presentations

13 Virtual Poster Presentations

Panel Discussions

Q&A

Access to meeting by invitation only
PROGRAM AT-A-GLANCE
DAY 1
SESSION I:
Part 1: ATN Biomarkers
Part 2: Ocular Approaches and Emerging Protein Biomarkers of ADRD
DAY 2
SESSION II:
Part 1: Peripheral Molecular Biomarkers of ADRD
Part 2: Misfolded Proteins and Biomarkers of FTD
Part 3: Updates from the Pacific Rim
DAY 3
SESSION III:
Digital Biomarkers
Monday, October 11, 2021
10:00 – 17:30 US Eastern Time
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
10:00 – 15:15 US Eastern Time
18:00 – 19:15 US Eastern Time
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
9:00 – 10:00 US Eastern Time – Meet with DxA Team
10:00 – 12:30 US Eastern Time
PRESENTERS, CHAIRS, HOSTS and ORGANIZERS






Rachel Acuña-Narvaez
Bluefield Project
Leyla Anderson
Neurovision Imaging
Rhoda Au
Boston Univresity
Marta Barrachina
ADmit Therapeutics
Marta Blanch
ADmit Therapeutics
Kaj Blennow
Univ. of Gothenburg






Catherine Bornbaum
RetiSpec
Niranjan Bose
Gates Ventures
Penny Dacks
AFTD
Robert Dean
R. A. Dean Consulting
Yuval Dor
Hebrew University
Chris Edgar
Cogstate






Anka G. Ehrhardt
CHDI Mgmt/CHDI Fnd.
Howard Fillit
ADDF
Hüseyin Firat
Amoneta
James Gallarda
Dx Consultancy
Ihab Hajjar
Emory University
Wesley Horton
Fdtn for the NIH






Laura Ibanez
Washington Univ.
Diana Kerwin
GAP PBC
Lampros Kourtis
Circadic.io
Zoe Kourtzi
Univ. of Cambridge
Russell Lebovitz
Amprion Inc.
Cecilia Lee
Univ. of Washington






Nicklas Linz
ki elements
Caroline Lustenberger
ETH Zuerich
Thomas MacGillivray
Univ. of Edinburgh
Kristina Malzbender
Gates Ventures
Qinwen Mao
Univ. of Utah
Tatsuyuki Maruyama
KPY Consulting






Amber Murray
Biological Dynamics
Jennifer Rae Myers
Neurotrack
Erin Norris
The Rockefeller Univ.
Larsson Omberg
Sage Bionetworks
Matthew Pase
Monash Univ.
Gregory Penner
NeoNeuro






Thanaphong (Joe) Phongpreecha
Stanford University
Shobha Purushothama
ADDF
Ramit Ravona-Springer
Sheba Med Ctr
Blaine Roberts
Emory University
Eliav Shaked
RetiSpec
Christy Sheehy
C-light






Kira Sheinerman
DiamiR Biosciences
Judith Steen
Boston Child’s Hosp.
Bruno Steinkraus
Hummingbird Dx
Ioannis Tarnanas
Altoida
Manu Vandijck
FujireBio
Peter van Vijngaarden
Ctr for Eye Rsrch



Guoliang Xing
Chinese Univ. of HK
Henrik Zetterberg
Univ. of Gothenburg
Stephan Zicha
Takeda
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Kristina Malzbender, MPH cand., Gates Ventures
Shobha Purushothama, PhD, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation
Nico Stanculescu, MS, World Events Forum
Aishwarya Sukumar, MBA/MPH cand., Gates Ventures
OUR DONORS
We are grateful for the generosity of donors that made possible the Diagnostics Accelerator Initiative:
Anonymous Donors
Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
Gates Ventures
Jeff Bezos
Leonard A. Lauder
MacKenzie Scott
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration
The Dolby Family
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Diagnostics Accelerator would like to acknowledge the following for generously sharing their time, knowledge and expertise to shape our portfolio:
Diagnostics Accelerator Core Team
External Experts
Joint Steering Committee
Sample Sharing Program Partners
Niranjan Bose
Howard Fillit
Kristina Malzbender
Shobha Purushothama
Aishwarya Sukumar
DxA Alumni:
Nicole Bjorklund
Andrew Muran
DxA administrators:
Tricia Jester
Jennifer Jaroslavsky
Abhishek Agrawal
Rich Christie
Robert Dean
James Gallarda
Lampros Kourtis
Alvydas Mikulskis
Eric Siemers
Niranjan Bose
Howard Fillit
Allan Green
Tetsuyuki Maruyama
Michael Poole
Shobha Purushothama
Susan Baker
Tobias Bittner
Shobha Dhadda
Michael Irizzary
Akihiko Koyama
Simon Lovestone
Masatoshi Takada
Support Personnel
ADDF Grants and Mission Related Investment Team
ADDF Communications Team
ADDF Science Team