Welcome Message

Alzheimer's disease is an age-associated neurodegenerative disease, affecting over 35 million people worldwide in 2010.The number of patients with Alzheimer's disease is estimated to be doubled by 2030. In Hong Kong, according to the study from CADENZA, 0.11 million patients suffer from dementia, with Alzheimer's disease being the most common. As one of four inhabitants in Hong Kong will be over 60 years old in less than 15 years, the number of Alzheimer's disease victims will have increased 2.6-folds by 2036. Each patient requires at least 2 nurses to take care of them and the quality of life for Alzheimer patient will deteriorate for 10 to 20 years. The projected cost of care will increase to over HK$30 billion per year within 25 years. Alzheimer's disease will therefore bring heavy burdens to the government and the public. We need to better prepare ourselves in tackling Alzheimer's disease by focusing on a number of areas, including public health, public education, scientific research, patient care, and therapeutic interventions.

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has established HKU Alzheimer's Disease Research Network (HKUADR Network) under the University Strategic Research Theme (SRT) of Healthy Aging since 2008. The Network aims to enforce collaborative scientific research in areas of public health, neuroscience, and clinical science. With the success of the Alzheimer's Disease Conference 2010, we have organized another conference this year which is supported by the Croucher Foundation. In this "Croucher Foundation Conference: Alzheimer's Disease Conference 2011: From Public Health, Basic and Clinical Sciences to Therapeutic Insights ", expert scientists and clinicians will share their experiences spanning areas in public health, basic science, imaging, and therapies. Through knowledge exchanges and scholarly interactions, we anticipate establishments of meaningful collaborations between researchers during this conference. On behalf of the Organising Committee, we invite you to participate in this important event in Hong Kong.

Prof. Leung-Wing Chu Chairman HKU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Network	Dr. Raymond CC Chang Chairman Organizing Committee