GENEVA, March 13, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC), the organization leading an unprecedented global response to Alzheimer’s disease, today announces the Memory and Dementia Unit at University Medical Center (UMC) in Ho Chi Minh City are beginning work with the DAC Global Cohort Development program, a groundbreaking data platform to accelerate the discovery, assessment, and delivery of precision interventions for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

The DAC Global Cohort Development (GCD) platform is driving scientific discovery by providing researchers access to an extensive, truly international platform populated with brain related health data from broad and diverse populations. It will support AI and machine learning with organized and aggregated data collected from digital devices through research labs, hospitals and even people’s own smartphones. This data resource will help determine the causes, predispositions, and habits for people who develop Alzheimer’s Disease. It may also inform drug discovery and clinical care at a more rapid pace.

In 2018, there were 660,000 people estimated to be living with dementia in Vietnam and the figure is predicted to increase to 1.2 million in 2030 (1). Initial works conducted at the Memory Unit at UMC included analyzing targeted gene sequencing data from a cohort of Vietnamese EOAD patients to identify pathogenic variants in twenty-nine well-characterized neurodegenerative genes (2). Currently, clinicians and researchers are investigating the normative data of neuropsychological tests for evaluation of dementia, as well as the effect of cognitive training for people with early Alzheimer's disease through a randomized controlled trial.

“We are excited to join the DAC GCD to establish the first cohort of people living with dementia in Vietnam and collaborate with researchers worldwide", said Dr. Trần Công Thắng, M.D. Ph.D., Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at HCMC, and Chief Consultant of Memory Unit of Neurology Department at University Medical Center (UMC).

“Collaboration and inclusion are essential elements for defeating Alzheimer’s Disease,” said Dr. Rhoda Au, Director of the Global Cohort Development at DAC. “Working in silos with limited representation of participants from across the world is not producing results, either comprehensively enough or fast enough. Past studies have skewed results because of the exclusion of low- and middle- income resourced areas and/or countries. We believe the important work and scientific data from the University Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City will further advance our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Participation
The Global Cohort Development combines the best of science – collaboration, creative thinking, and discovery. Other interested researchers with cohorts that share these objectives are encouraged to apply. Because of the synergistic nature of this work, cohorts with limited resources are put on similar footing with the large research organizations. Supporters are finding this program a cost-effective way to influence the big, new ideas necessary to stem the tide of AD.

About the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative
Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 meeting on The Davos Agenda, The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to aligning stakeholders with a new vision for our collective global response against the challenges Alzheimer’s presents to patients, caregivers and healthcare infrastructures. Convened by The World Economic Forum and The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi) and fueled by a mission of service to the estimated 150 million families and half a billion people inevitably impacted by this disease by 2050, DAC is a collaborative for the benefit of all people, in all places.


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(1) Rees G, editor Developing National Dementia Plans and Setting Priorities. The 1st Vietnam National Dementia Conference: Dementia as a public health priority – the need for the development of Vietnam’s national dementia plan; 2018; Hanoi
(2) Trang Mai Tong, Thuy Thi Hong Dao, Loc Phuoc Doan, Dat Thanh Nguyen, Quynh-Tho Thi Nguyen, Thanh-Thuy Thi Do, Kiet Dinh Truong, Minh-Duy Phan, Hoai-Nghia Nguyen, Thang Cong Tran & Hoa Giang (2022) Genetic analysis of Vietnamese patients with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, International Journal of Neuroscience, 132:12, 1190-1197, DOI: 10.1080/00207454.2020.1870974

Pat Arcand
DAC Global Cohort Program
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+1 617-251-7778

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