AAIC 2026: Bold approaches to tackling dementia research

More than 10,000 international dementia researchers gathered in London this week for the world’s largest dementia research conference. 

The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), offered a glimpse of what the future could hold: treatments that are easier to deliver, blood tests that could identify Alzheimer’s earlier, and ambitious new approaches designed to stop the disease before symptoms begin. 

Together, it brings us closer to a cure for people living with dementia.

Advances in treatment 

A growing number of scientific advances are beginning to reshape the dementia treatment landscape. 

Last year, we heard encouraging news about a subcutaneous (injectable) version of lecanemab, a treatment designed to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. A once-weekly injectable initiation dose has now been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) meaning treatment can begin with at-home injections rather than hospital-based IV infusions.  

In the future, injectable treatments could make Alzheimer’s medicines easier for the NHS to deliver at scale. “An injectable version of lecanemab from the start of treatment would be a game changer in terms of convenience for people and affordability of administration for health services,” explains Hilary Evans-Newton CBE, Chief Executive, Alzheimer’s Research UK. 

 

The possibilities of prevention

We also heard updates on trontinemab,  a potential new Alzheimer’s treatment that uses innovative ‘brain shuttle’ technology to reach the brain more effectively. Findings presented at this year’s conference build on earlier promising results. They suggest that substantial reductions in amyloid, the protein that builds up in Alzheimer’s, may be achieved within the first few months of treatment, while causing relatively low rates of side effects associated with some currently licensed treatments. 

Alongside efforts to develop better treatments, researchers are increasingly exploring whether intervening earlier, before symptoms appear, could help delay or even prevent Alzheimer’s from progressing.  

Dr Jacqui Hanley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK said to The Telegraph “PrevenTRON is part of an important shift in research, from focusing on people who already have symptoms towards finding those most at risk and seeing whether treatment can delay, or perhaps one day prevent symptoms developing. It raises the exciting possibility that Alzheimer’s could eventually be treated preventively, in a similar way to using medicines to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. 

“But we are not there yet. We still need to find out whether treating people before symptoms begin can help them stay well for longer, and trials like PrevenTRON will take several years to answer that question.”  

Delivering blood tests

One of the most significant advances in Alzheimer’s research in recent years has been the development of blood tests that can detect biological changes linked to the disease. 

Researchers hope these tests could eventually identify people at risk before problems with memory and thinking begin. This could transform prevention research, helping trials reach the right people sooner and, one day, allowing treatments to be offered early enough to delay or even stop symptoms from developing. 

New research presented at AAIC adds to growing evidence that blood tests could help achieve this. Researchers found that people with very high levels of the Alzheimer’s-related blood biomarker p-tau217 had an estimated 78% risk of developing cognitive impairment over 10 years.  

Dr Sara Rodrigues explains in The Independent “At present blood tests identify changes in pathology associated with Alzheimer’s disease, but they haven’t been validated to predict whether a person will go onto develop the condition.” 

Importantly, almost a quarter of people with low levels of p-tau217 still experienced a decline in memory and thinking, showing why a single result cannot yet predict someone’s risk of developing dementia. More research is needed to understand what these results mean and guide the use of blood tests in practice. 

Researchers are also exploring how these tests could be introduced into memory clinics. Dr Jemma Hazan, an Alzheimer’s Research UK Clinical Research Training Fellow, is developing DART-CU, a training programme designed to help clinicians understand when blood biomarker tests may be appropriate, how to interpret the results and how to communicate them clearly and sensitively to patients. 

Co-designed with clinicians, people affected by dementia and carers, the programme includes practical decision-making tools to support clinical judgement. Importantly, it emphasises that blood biomarkers should be used to support decision-making rather than as standalone diagnostic tests. 

Tackling tau

In Alzheimer’s disease and some other forms of dementia, a protein called tau builds up inside brain cells, disrupting their normal function. Because tau is closely linked to disease progression, it has become a major focus for researchers developing new treatments. 

New results from the phase 2 CELIA trial explored a potential treatment designed to target tau earlier, before it forms the tangles seen in later stages of disease. The results suggest that reducing tau levels may help slow decline in memory and thinking. Interestingly, the lowest treatment dose showed the greatest benefit. Researchers do not yet know why, but future trials should help to uncover this. 

It’s exciting to see this next wave of potential therapies, with a pipeline of drugs targeting tau and other changes in the brain advancing through clinical trials. ‘In the future, in order to treat people at different stages of the disease we will need a combination of treatments that tackle different aspects of the disease. 

Addressing inequalities in brain health

Research has shown that looking after our overall heath, also protects our brain health and can help reduce our risk of dementia. Results from the LatAm-FINGERS trial across 12 countries, highlight the potential of tailored lifestyle programmes to help people from a wide range of communities. 

Building on the original FINGERS trial, which first showed that structured lifestyle interventions can significantly improve people’s memory and thinking, this latest study demonstrate that adapting programmes to local cultures and communities is both possible and important. 

At Alzheimer’s Research UK, our Closing the Dementia Awareness Gap report published earlier this year, highlights the importance of community-tailored brain health advice and the need for trusted voices in helping people to protect their brain health. 

As researchers work to understand how dementia risk differs between individuals and communities, at the conference there was a focus on factors that may affect women’s brain health. 

Alzheimer’s disproportionately affects women, who account for nearly two-thirds of people living with the disease. Yet women’s brain health has historically been under-represented in dementia research. Alongside AAIC, The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Symposium panel event hosted by Maria Shriver, Dr Joanne Pike and Hilary Evans-Newton CBE discussed this crucial gender gap in dementia research and the urgent need to address this. 

The Dementia Frontiers Fund announces five teams during AAIC 

First launched in October 2025, the Dementia Frontiers Fund was created to tackle some of the toughest unanswered questions in dementia research through bold, international collaboration. 

The response was extraordinary, with 132 applications from research teams across 29 countries. From these, 12 international teams were selected to develop their proposals before pitching their ideas to our expert panel during AAIC. 

Following two days of inspiring pitches, on Monday five teams were selected to move forward – the teams, and the questions they are addressing are: 

Can we better predict and stage disease progression in dementia? 

• Team ATLAS, led by Professor Duygu Tosun and Dr Oliver Robinson, with researchers across the US, UK and Spain. 

• A team led by Professor Clifford Jack Jr and Professor Ronald Petersen, bringing together researchers across the US, Australia and Spain. 

Why are some high-risk populations resilient to dementia? 

• Team EMERALD, led by Dr Sarah Marzi, Associate Professor Henne Holstege and Dr Alexi Nott, with researchers across the UK and the Netherlands. 

What are the relative contributions of different brain pathologies to the development of dementia? 

• Team ALGEBRA, led by Dr Sourena Soheili-Nezhad, Professor Floris Foijer and Professor Christos Proukakis, with researchers across the Netherlands, UK and US. 

• Team NanoPath, led by Dr Annelies Quaegebeur, with a multidisciplinary team based in the UK. 

Each team will now receive up to £1.5 million over two years to accelerate bold, high-risk, high-reward ideas with the potential to open new directions in dementia research. 

Led by Alzheimer’s Research UK, Gates Ventures, and Robertson Foundation and supported by research partner Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative, with support from Q Charitable Trust, the Fund is backing bold science with the potential to transform the future of dementia research. 

We will be sharing much more about the selected teams, their projects and their progress in the months ahead. 

Final thoughts 

As we enter this next exciting era, timely diagnosis and effective treatment are starting to become a reality for more people around the world.  AAIC 2026 demonstrated the pace, ambition and collaboration driving the field forward, from advances in earlier detection to bold new approaches for treatment and prevention. By continuing to build on partnerships, shared expertise and global collaboration, researchers are helping to turn today’s progress into meaningful change for people affected by dementia.