WELCOME: GLOBAL BHP BRAINTRUST
A Message from Andrea Pfeifer, Chair of the Global BHP BrainTrust
Dear Friend,
This month scientists, industry and advocates gathered at the annual Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) held this year in San Diego. As a veteran researcher, I was struck by the somber mood of attendees, responding to disappointing, but instructive read-outs from the longest prevention study to date and chilled by recent sensational headlines about fraud, fabrication and data manipulation that challenged the entire amyloid hypothesis upon which much of Alzheimer’s research is based. Disagreement by top experts on the beta-amyloid hypothesis is nothing new, but as Deborah Kan, Founder of Being Patient wrote “The bottom line: fraud has no place in science- but neither does sensationalizing.”
The big lesson of science that rarely gets talked is “humility in the face of the unknown; humility that there is always a better idea, a new approach, or a different perspective to be had.” Our resilience to failure underscores our commitment and tenacity to share and analyze the data to advance the scientific field in our relentless quest for life-saving therapies. There are new learnings and insights to be mined from recent studies that spur on researcher like myself to remain humble, but positive and focused on what comes next and cautiously optimistic about year-end read-outs. That’s what it means to do science. Please Stay Tuned.