Post–AAIC 2025 Perspective on Advances in Alzheimer Diagnosis and Treatment: Rebecca M. Edelmayer, PhD

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"It was an incredible meeting at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference this year. We had over 11,000 attendees from over 139 countries. What was really exciting to see was the momentum that has taken place in this field, and it's everything from diagnosis to treatments that we saw presented at the meeting."

The 2025 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), held July 27 to 30, 2025, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, brought together nearly 19,000 registered attendees to share and discuss the latest research in Alzheimer disease (AD) and other dementias. As the premier annual meeting in the field, AAIC 2025 featured more than 6400 scientific submissions spanning risk factors, diagnostic advances, and therapeutic developments. This year’s presentations included pivotal studies on both lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions, as well as new insights into environmental exposures, genetic risk, and sex-based differences in brain health.¹

Among the research highlights, the US POINTER trial (NCT03688126) demonstrated that structured lifestyle interventions with greater support and accountability improved cognition in older adults at risk for cognitive decline. Additional findings linked walking and other lifestyle activities to potential benefits in individuals carrying the APOE4 genetic variant. Other studies reported that use of common medications for hypertension, cholesterol, and diabetes may help slow cognitive decline, and that participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was associated with a similar protective effect. Research also suggested a possible link between lead exposure and memory problems decades later, and new data shed light on sex-based differences in brain health, including responses to traumatic brain injury and cognitive changes related to chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Therapeutic and diagnostic advances were also a key focus at AAIC 2025. The Alzheimer’s Association introduced its first clinical practice guidelines for the use of blood biomarker tests by specialists to aid in diagnosis. Early findings from real-world use of amyloid-targeting therapies, such as lecanemab (Leqembi; Eisai) and donanemab (Kisunla; Eli Lilly), aligned with phase 3 trial results and demonstrated sustained benefits over 3 to 4 years, particularly when initiated during mild cognitive impairment or early dementia.

In a post-meeting interview with NeurologyLive^®, Rebecca M. Edelmayer, PhD, vice president of scientific engagement at the Alzheimer's Association, discussed some of the main takeaways from the conference, focusing specifically on AD diagnosis and detection. Edelmayer spoke about the growing emphasis on early detection, the importance of developing primary care screening protocols, and the role of confirmatory biomarker testing in specialty settings.

Click here for more coverage of AAIC 2025.

REFERENCES
1. Research Advances from the 2025 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. News release. Alzheimer’s Association. Published July 31, 2025. Accessed September 3, 2025. https://aaic.alz.org/releases-2025/highlights-aaic-2025.asp