WELCOME: GLOBAL BHP BRAINTRUST
A Message from Andrea Pfeifer, Chair of the Global BHP BrainTrust

A few weeks ago, the 11th edition of the Lausanne Conference brought together the world’s leading minds in Alzheimer’s research, brain health and prevention strategies. Ministers of Health, academic researchers, scientists and industry leaders engaged in three days of in-depth discussions spotlighting Lausanne as a global hub for solutions to Alzheimer’s disease.

As part of the program, Carolee Lee (CEO & Founder, WHAM) and I held a panel on igniting the future of women’s health, moderated by Nadine B. Hack (CEO, beCause Global Consulting). Women still bear the disproportionate burden of brain health disparities; therefore, we emphasized that the advancements in three key areas – closing the funding disparities, research on biological understandings and awareness – remain critically important for meaningful progress.  

At the subsequent Global BHP BrainTrust reception at the Olympic Museum, I was thus proud to announce a new milestone within the spectrum of the above key areas: our joint collaboration with the FINGERS Brain Health Institute and the launch of FINGERS Plus for Women (Press Release).

This joint initiative led by Dr. Miia Kivipelto engages Dr. Stephanie Blum (Former Head of Translational Research at Nestlé Health Science/Global BHP Study Coordinator), to explore the brain to gut microbiome connection by using a probiotic, donated by Probi AB as intervention. The goal is also to explore the brain/microbiome connection to higher dementia risk faced by women and directly addresses the above identified key areas by focusing on advancing research understandings and awareness.

The FINGERS Brain Health Institute is globally recognized for its pioneering FINGER study, which was the first trial in the world to prove that multidomain lifestyle changes can reduce cognitive decline by about 30%. Building on this influential work, FINGERS Plus for Women will harness the key findings of the FINGER study to explore additional modifiable risk and protective factors such as stress, sleep, education, music, and diet with the aim to create gender-specific interventions that promote brain health for women.

This collaboration signifies a fundamental step forward to influence both national and global strategies for Alzheimer’s and dementia prevention. We look forward to sharing more updates as this collaboration progresses.