Tenth Annual International Eibsee Conference

At the end of this month (27 – 30 October), leading international experts will come together on the shores of the Eibsee, an Alpine lake near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, to discuss the latest findings in the field of dementia research. The scientific presentations cover a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases to less common conditions such as infectious prion-associated illnesses, and frontal-lobe dementias.

The Eibsee Meeting is the most important conference on neurodegeneration held in Germany, and attracts outstanding researchers from all over the world. A highlight of the event is the presentation of the Alzheimer Research Award, the most valuable German award in this field, which is funded by the Hans and Ilse Breuer Foundation. The Conference is being organized by LMU biochemist Professor Christian Haass, who also heads the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE).

As life expectancy continues to rise, the incidence of neurodegenerative syndromes is steadily increasing. These conditions are characterized by progressive nerve-cell loss with consequent deterioration of cognitive faculties. Patients eventually lose the capacity for independent living and require constant nursing care. There are, as yet, no effective treatments, so the rising case load presents a huge challenge for health-care systems over the coming decades. Since advances in therapy can only come from a better understanding of the factors that cause neural-cell death, meeting this challenge will require new scientific breakthroughs. This fact underlines the broader social implications of neurodegeneration research.

More information click: http://eibsee.web.med.uni-muenchen.de/index.html