The first day of Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) Neuroscience Next held on Monday, 24th February 2025. The long-anticipated global, no-cost hybrid conference is a two-day conference aimed at enlightening and showcasing the work of early-career researchers and clinicians. The conference aimed at inspiring and informing medical students and budding researchers on knowledge gaps and future directions for research in neurodegenerative diseases.
As a global conference with global standards, the conference began promptly with attendees trooping in, in their numbers, from various regions across the globe into the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theater, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
The event’s Chairman, Professor Olusegun Bayero, is a prominent psychiatrist and researcher with an emphasis on psychogeriatric disease burdens and care and is also a member of the International Psychogeriatric Association and a pioneer researcher in dementia and Alzheimer’s in Africa. In his opening remarks, he admonished everyone to keep pushing forward and live life goal-minded and filled with impacts.
The Neuroscience Next Early Career Research Lead, Tobi Olajide, also gave an opening speech pointing out that students and early-career researchers are equally needed in the neurological research field as they would be the ones to ask bold and unconventional questions, fueling innovations and research directions. Afterwards, there were added activities, including a plenary session on advances in genetics and dementia anchored by Professor Rufus Akinyemi, a professor of Neurology.
By 12:30 pm, Dr Tejiri Napoleon, an alumnus of the University of Ibadan, presented an intriguing abstract on novel therapies in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, keeping listeners glued to their seats as he rolled off the names of drugs such as Xanamen, Liraglutide, and Benfotiamine now used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and this way, he stimulated medical students to let patients with Alzheimer’s disease know that there is hope. A Tea break at 12:45 pm brought the morning session to a wrap.
The afternoon session resumed forty minutes later with a presentation from Oluwatimilehin Oladapo, a 500L medical student and the current president of The College Research and Innovation Hub (CRIH), with the topic, “Dementia in Africa: current evidence, knowledge gaps, future directions”. A panel session followed the recently concluded presentation with Dr Temitayo Ayantayo, Prof. Akin Ojagbemi, and Dr Maelenn Guerchet as major contributors.
Dr Lawrence talked about lifestyle protection against dementia, such as avoiding smoking, health promotion by doing mentally challenging activities and avoiding social isolation by gaining social capital even after the loss of loved ones. A Lunch break occurred between 2:30 and 3:30 pm with a meal described as mouth-watering and energy-giving.
Next, the workshop session titled “How to Write a Research Proposal” began as scheduled and was presided over by Professor Akin Ojagbemi, who delved into the intricacies of submitting appealing and results-producing research proposals. He espoused having a well-structured research plan and that it should be tailored in such a way that it would also tell a story. Prof Ojagbemi rounded up with encouragements and narrated the fulfilment ardent researchers derived from a successful research career. He spurred aspiring researchers on despite their present challenges.
The session came to a close at the Q&A session that followed immediately. A question that stirred the crowd was from a male attendee who asked, “What realistic chances are for a medical student to go on to have a successful research career?”
In response, Prof. Ojagbemi broke down the question by outlining the essential steps to follow. He emphasized starting with obtaining an MBBS degree and actively participating in research teams as a medical student to develop and refine the skills necessary for strong research expertise. He declared that chances are as realistic as possible if the required work is put into being a successful researcher. The Q&A segment was brought to a close.
The third plenary session commenced at 4 pm, anchored by Dr Temitayo Ayantayo with his topic, “Youth Advocacy in Nigeria: Empowering the Next Generation of Researchers”. In his opinion, the most significant problem the young generation faces is bridging the gap between potential and realization. To this, he offered tips on solving this problem by stating examples of students who have made ground-breaking discoveries. He mentioned the likes of Paul Langerhans and Jay McLean, students who exemplified success in bridging that divide.
While he emphasized the importance of teachers, mentors and stakeholders, he also reiterated the need for aspiring researchers to prioritize the place of individual development in their fields of choice. He brought his session to a close with the importance of integrity in research. A Q&A session followed afterwards. This ended by 4:30 pm. His descent from the podium was met with a round of applause from the audience.
Dr Maelenn Guerchet, a Frenchwoman, anchored the next segment with her topic, “The future of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia research: Promoting healthy Aging strategies for neurodegenerative disease prevention in Africa”.
Dr Guerchet was thorough with her presentation, beginning with detailing the statistics of Alzheimer’s disease and the challenges faced by those with the disease. She touched on the projected exponential increase in the incidence of the disease in Africa, backing up her statement with statistics from African countries like Congo and Tanzania and proceeded to the steps the association she was representing has employed in managing Alzheimer’s disease. She said their ultimate goal is to bring down the burden of dementia in Africa to its barest minimum.
She also spoke about factors that have slowed this goal: lack of tailored dementia programmes and factors unique to the individuals like age, sex, literacy, etc. Dr. Maelenn addressed caregiving as regards Alzheimer’s and dementia patients and highlighted the detrimental effects of the near total dependence of the patients on their caregivers.
She ended her session with a plea to the Nigerian government to implement policies that integrate domestic care and plans for people living with Alzheimer’s/ dementia. At about 5 pm, the plenary session with Dr Maelenn ended; her Q&A session commenced afterwards.
Next were three enlightening presentations lasting about 4 minutes each taken by Radem Oria, Dr Tejiri Napoleon and Hauwa Umar. The event was brought to a close at 5:30 pm by Angela Edhere, the host, who mounted the stage to give a vote of thanks and closing remarks with well-wishes to attendees, presenters and sponsors of the conference.
Fellow Contributor:
Tebamifor Tola Wisdom
