Global Researchers Recognized for Trailblazing Projects in First-of-Its-Kind Data Competition
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International non-profit organization The Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation® (GAP) in collaboration with the Scottish Funding Council's Brain Health Alliance for Research Challenges (ARC) and the Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative proudly announced four winners of the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge at the first Data Challenge Summit, held in Glasgow, Scotland last week.
The Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge, was an international research competition launched in February of 2024 by the Brain Health ARC, supported by Race Against Dementia to grant researchers early access to GAP's Bio-Hermes-001 Biomarker dataset, the most comprehensive set of dementia biomarker data from ground-breaking blood testing study for Alzheimer's disease. The Challenge represented an unprecedented effort of collaboration between government, academics, nonprofits and scientists and an unrivalled speed to delivery, going from an idea or 'dream' to a full Summit on March 21, 2025, with over 40 submissions in just over a year.
"It was an honor for GAP to collaborate with the Brain Health Arc and the Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative to undertake the Bio-Hermes Data Challenge Summit. Dr. Quinn and his colleagues organized the Challenge in six months and attracted a multi-disciplined group of the UK's leading researchers to interrogate the Bio-Hermes database with the assistance of the Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative to explore novel hypotheses related to Alzheimer's and related dementias. Over the ensuing year, competing teams advanced their research with unparalleled speed and rigor. We celebrate their hard work and the scientific contributions these researchers will make in the coming months in the form of new papers and abstracts,” said GAP President John Dwyer.
The one-year timeline for the Bio-Hermes Biomarker Data Challenge is extraordinary in Alzheimer's research, where studies and clinical trials typically take years. When GAP opened access to the Bio-Hermes-001 data set, and the Challenge announced an aggressive timeline, it proved that researchers could take an agile approach in Alzheimer's research, demonstrating that urgency is possible in the field.
"Dementia progresses quickly, but traditional research moves slowly. We wanted our Data Challenge to challenge this assumption. We have shown that with collaboration, support, and a little hard work we can do things differently. Through working in partnership with GAP, and the dementia research community, in a matter of months, we have completed a portfolio of high quality, impactful research,” said Professor Terry Quinn, David Cargill Chair and Honorary Consultant Physician in Geriatric and Stroke Medicine at the University of Glasgow.
Teams showcased their research concepts for a chance to win in three categories: poster presentation, quick-fire project presentation, and oral presentation. Winners in the poster presentation and quick-fire chat categories received complimentary passes to attend the 2025 Scottish Dementia Research Consortium conference in Edinburgh, Scotland and the oral presentation winner received admission to the 2025 Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto, Canada. Below are the winners along with titles of their projects:
- Winning Poster Presentation: Blood cytokine profiles in AD and their association with neurodegeneration and clinical severity.
Presenter: Katherine R. Birditt, University of Cambridge
- Winning Quick Fire Project Presentations:
"Resilience Defining cognitive resilience and resistance to Alzheimer's dementia using novel”
Presenters: Connor Dalby and Austin Jon Dibble of the University of Glasgow
- "Higher Cardiovascular Risk as Moderator of the Relationship between Blood Plasma Dementia Biomarkers and Cognitive Impairment”
Presenter: Angelina Kancheva, MSc of the University of Edinburgh
- Winning Oral Presentation: "Functional Independence as an excellent predictor of cognitive status”
Presenter: Kalliopi Mavromati of the University of Glasgow
For more information on the Bio-Hermes Data Challenge visit www.brainhealtharc.com/data-challenge.
About the Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation (GAP)
The nonprofit Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation was founded to speed the delivery of Alzheimer's treatments with a commitment to promoting diversity in clinical research, as well as lowering the cost and improving the efficacy of ADRD clinical trials to ensure that no one is left behind. As part of its mission, GAP supports more than 100 clinical research sites worldwide through study start-up and recruitment activities, promoting diversity in research studies, and giving attention to the citizen scientists who make research possible.
About the Brain Health ARC
The ambition of the Brain Health ARC is to utilise Scotland's world leading research capacity to educate the public, influence policy, and find solutions to the societal challenges associated with poor brain health. The ARC aims to challenge the current, arbitrary silo thinking that separates research in areas such as dementia, head injury, stroke, and others while seizing unique opportunities to work for, and with, our ageing population to improve their health.
Contact: media@globalalzplatform.org
