By Maria Teresa Ferretti, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, WBP
This third panel of the International Forum on Women’s Brain and Mental Health will take Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) as a case study of a disease that affects men and women differently, and explore how such sex and gender differences could be leveraged to improve current drug development.
This panel will link to with World’s Alzheimer Day on Monday 21 September, contributing to awareness raising and hopefully finding solutions to important gaps in research and care.
Key questions
- What is the added value of considering sex in clinical trial design?
- Are there barriers for young and elderly women to access clinical trials?
- Do we need to consider sex when diagnosing AD?
Speakers
The opening of the panel will be done by a patient who is also a WBP Ambassador: Sofia Petersson. Living with early-onset Alzheimer’s, Sofia shares anecdotes about her life, including the struggle to be accepted in a clinical trial given her young age – in the WBP blog “Sofia’s Corner”.
Panelists and their focus will include:
- Elena Moro, Grenoble Institute of Neurosciences, France, and EAN – overview on sex and gender differences in AD and Parkinson’s Disease (PD)
- Lynne Hughes, IQVIA – how to integrate sex into clinical trial design
- Paola Barbarino, ADI – women and dementia from a policy perspective
- Vasisht Kaveeta, FDA Women’s Office – the regulator’s perspective of the importance of considering sex and gender in clinical trials
Moderator
The moderator of this panel will be Raj Long, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
To find out more about this panel as it continues to take shape, or to participate in the conversation, follow us on social media under @womensbrainpro or register now for the International Forum on Women’s Brain and Mental Health if you have not yet done so! The Forum will offer registered participants pre-recorded talks and keynotes in addition to virtual interactive discussions by experts taking place on September 19-20, 2020.
