title: Research priorities to reduce the global burden of dementia by 2025.
abstract: At the First WHO Ministerial Conference on Global Action Against Dementia in March, 2015, 160 delegates, including representatives from 80 WHO Member States and four UN agencies, agreed on a call for action to reduce the global burden of dementia by fostering a collective effort to advance research. To drive this effort, we completed a globally representative research prioritisation exercise using an adapted version of the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method. We elicited 863 research questions from 201 participants and consolidated these questions into 59 thematic research avenues, which were scored anonymously by 162 researchers and stakeholders from 39 countries according to five criteria. Six of the top ten research priorities were focused on prevention, identification, and reduction of dementia risk, and on delivery and quality of care for people with dementia and their carers. Other priorities related to diagnosis, biomarkers, treatment development, basic research into disease mechanisms, and public awareness and understanding of dementia. Research priorities identified by this systematic international process should be mapped onto the global dementia research landscape to identify crucial gaps and inform and motivate policy makers, funders, and researchers to support and conduct research to reduce the global burden of dementia. Efforts are needed by all stakeholders, including WHO, WHO Member States, and civil society, to continuously monitor research investments and progress, through international platforms such as a Global Dementia Observatory. With established research priorities, an opportunity now exists to translate the call for action into a global dementia action plan to reduce the global burden of dementia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Hiral
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Emiliano
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Albanese
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duggan
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Health Research and WHO Collaborating Centre for Population Health Research and Training, The Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rudan
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Institute for Social Research, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Langa
authors.affiliation: Medical and Scientific Relations Division, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Health Research and WHO Collaborating Centre for Population Health Research and Training, The Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Kit Yee
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Aging, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, QC, Canada; World Dementia Council, London, UK.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Joanette
authors.affiliation: Centre for Global Mental Health, Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.affiliation: Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegeneration, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossor
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Shekhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.affiliation: Medical and Scientific Relations Division, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.affiliation: Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Reisa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sperling
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Mathew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Varghese
authors.affiliation: Dementia Care and Research Center, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory for Translational Research on Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Peking University Sixth Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Huali
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Alzheimer's Disease International, London, UK.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wortmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: duat@who.int.
authors.forename: Tarun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dua
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans