Incorporating the Experimental Medicine Approach in the Development of Primary Prevention Trials for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Workshop

On October 10-11, 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging (NIA), convened an Expert Panel to explore advances in incorporating the experimental medicine approach in the development of primary prevention trials for AD, with the goal of informing study design to increase adherence to AD prevention interventions via actionable strategies. The experimental medicine approach, used in this meeting as a tool to assess behavior change to reduce AD risk, involves identifying an intervention of interest and a mechanism target with the necessary tools to verify change, and assessing how well the intervention generates and maintains behavior change. Members of the Expert Panel gave presentations related to AD trial cohorts, early outcome assessments for AD cognitive and functional status trajectories, mechanism targets for interventions, motivation for and adherence to interventions, and development of primary prevention trials. The Panel broke into three groups to discuss cohorts, mechanisms issues, and adherence. The Panel concluded the meeting with discussion, synthesis, and key features of future AD prevention trials. A meeting summary (PDF, 832K) is available.