HAI2026 · 18th Edition
2026 Program
January 12–14, 2026 · Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Full Program
| 08:00–08:30 | Check-in and Breakfast | |
| 08:30–08:45 | Welcome Notes | Keith Johnson, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA |
| 08:45–08:55 | Alzheimer’s Association Note | Maria Carrillo, Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago, IL |
| 08:55–10:25 | SESSION I: Amyloid-beta pathology: PET imaging — Chairs: Keith Johnson & Christopher Rowe | |
| 09:00–09:15 | Auto-rADiology: Toward automated and explainable amyloid-PET interpretation using deep learning | Yu Xiao, Lund University, Sweden |
| 09:15–09:30 | Choroidal-ventricular remodeling is associated with amyloid aggregation in Alzheimer’s disease | Brandon Hall, McGill University, Canada |
| 09:30–09:45 | Updated evaluation of the baseline distribution of amyloid positivity and cognitive impairment among adults with Down syndrome in the ABC-DS project | Max McLachlan, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| 09:45–10:00 | Heterogeneous patterns of off target signal with [18F]flutafuranol PET in ADNI4 | Renaud La Joie, UCSF, San Francisco, CA |
| 10:00–10:25 | Discussion | |
| 10:25–10:30 | ⚡ Blitz Session 1A | |
| Stronger amyloid–tau coupling explains faster tau progression in early-onset Alzheimer’s disease | Nicolai Franzmeier, LMU University Hospital, Germany | |
| Amyloid-induced neuronal hyperactivity and metabolism are associated with faster tau accumulation in Alzheimer’s Disease | Sebastian Roemer-Cassiano, LMU Munich, Germany | |
| Episodic memory decline and tau biomarkers progress earlier along the amyloid timeline in Down syndrome compared to neurotypical adults | Matt Zammit, University of Wisconsin, Madison | |
| 10:30–11:30 | Break / Poster Session 1A | |
| 11:30–01:00 | SESSION II: Tau pathology: In vivo and postmortem measurements — Chairs: Bradley Christian & Melissa Murray | |
| 11:35–11:50 | The effects of 18F-MK-6240 PET extracerebellar off-target signal on the cerebellum and its substructures | Charles Chen, Martinos Center, Charlestown, MA |
| 11:50–12:05 | Examining spatial relationships between ex-vivo flortaucipir retention and TMEM106b protein expression in FTLD-TDP43 cases | Rodolpho Gatto, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 12:05–12:20 | Hypometabolism and atrophy patterns associated with advanced primary age-related tauopathy mimicking early-stage AD | Jesus Silva-Rodriguez, CIEN Foundation, Madrid, Spain |
| 12:20–12:35 | Differential age- and Aβ-related tau-PET patterns between [18F]FTP and [18F]MK6240 | Cecile Tissot, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, CA |
| 12:35–01:00 | Discussion | |
| 01:00–02:00 | Lunch | |
| 02:00–02:30 | ★ Keynote: The neuropathological basis of current AD biomarkers: Sensitivity and pathogenetic implications | Dietmar Thal, KU Leuven, Belgium |
| 02:30–02:45 | Keynote Discussion | |
| 02:45–04:15 | SESSION III: Alzheimer’s disease biological staging and applications — Chairs: Tobey Betthauser & Thomas Karikari | |
| 02:50–03:05 | Combining quantitative and visual read approaches to tau-PET positivity and staging: The Tau-PET Working Group | Gil Rabinovici, UCSF, San Francisco, CA |
| 03:05–03:20 | Association between PET-based Alzheimer’s disease biological stage and autopsy findings | Derek Johnson, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 03:20–03:35 | Associations among plasma p-tau217, amyloid PET, tau PET, and cognitive testing in the AHEAD 3-45 Study screening cohort | Reisa Sperling, Brigham and Women’s / MGH / Harvard, Boston, MA |
| 03:35–03:50 | Genetic predictors of multimodal brain tau pathology in older adults | Ting-Chen Wang, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, TN |
| 03:50–04:15 | Discussion | |
| 04:15–04:20 | ⚡ Blitz Session 1B | |
| OMG: a proteomic determinant of neurodegenerative resiliency | Michael Duggan, NIH, Baltimore, MD | |
| Lifetime and 10-year absolute risk of cognitive impairment associated with amyloid PET severity | Mingzhao Hu, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN | |
| Stratifying preclinical Alzheimer’s disease by hippocampal volume to detect concomitant LATE | Nidhi Mundada, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA | |
| 04:20–05:20 | Break / Poster Session 1B | |
| 05:20–05:25 | The PET-tle Royale (HAI’s very own synaptic showdown quiz) | Christopher Schwarz, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 05:30–07:30 | Networking Reception | |
| 08:00–08:30 | Check-in / Breakfast | |
| 08:00–08:30 | Mentoring Session | |
| 08:30–09:45 | ISTAART Collaborations: Neuroimaging in clinical decision making — Chairs: Tobey Betthauser & Kathleen Poston | |
| 08:35–08:50 | Case 1 | Petrice Cogswell, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 08:50–09:05 | Case 2 | Christopher Rowe, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia |
| 09:05–09:20 | Case 3 | Gil Rabinovici, UCSF, San Francisco, CA |
| 09:20–09:45 | Discussion | |
| 09:45–09:50 | ⚡ Blitz Session 2A | |
| Early concordance between Aβ PET spatial extent and plasma %ptau217 | Michelle Farrell, MGH / Harvard, Boston, MA | |
| Head-to-head comparison of tau PET tracers across the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum: baseline results from the HEAD study | Guilherme Povala, University of Pittsburgh, PA | |
| Evaluating occipital-to-global amyloid PET as a predictor of CAA at autopsy in Mayo Clinic cohorts | Christopher Schwarz, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN | |
| 09:50–10:50 | Break / Poster Session 2A | |
| 10:50–12:20 | SESSION IV: Longitudinal biomarker measurements of tau pathology — Chairs: Heidi Jacobs & William Jagust | |
| 10:55–11:10 | Preliminary comparative longitudinal performance of Flortaucipir and MK6240: rates of change, effect sizes, and power estimates in the HEAD Study | Guilherme Bauer-Negrini, University of Pittsburgh, PA |
| 11:10–11:25 | Standardized expression of longitudinal tau accumulation using the CenTauR scale | Brian Lopresti, University of Pittsburgh, PA |
| 11:25–11:40 | TauPace as a novel, time-based metric to investigate accelerated tau and clinical progression in preclinical AD | William Coath, University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| 11:40–11:55 | Proteomic signatures track tau spread in Alzheimer’s disease | Arthur Macedo, McGill University, Canada |
| 11:55–12:20 | Discussion | |
| 12:20–01:20 | Lunch | |
| 01:20–01:50 | ★ Keynote: The role of AI in neuroimaging for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, staging, and prognosis | Joyita Dutta, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA |
| 01:50–02:05 | Keynote Discussion | |
| 02:05–03:35 | SESSION V: Alpha-synuclein in PD and MSA: PET imaging — Chairs: Jamie Eberling & Robert Mach | |
| 02:10–02:25 | Preclinical and early clinical assessment of [11C]MODAG-005, a novel PET tracer for imaging alpha-synuclein aggregates | Ann-Kathrin Grotegerd, University Tuebingen, Germany |
| 02:25–02:40 | Clinical evaluation of [11C]MK-7337: insights into the distribution of α-synuclein pathology in Parkinson’s disease | Eric Hostetler, Merck & Co., West Point, PA |
| 02:40–02:55 | [11C]M503-1619 alpha synuclein PET imaging in Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy | Chia-Ju Hsieh, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA |
| 02:55–03:10 | Quantitative analysis of human ¹&sup8;F-FD4 α-synuclein PET imaging data in Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple System Atrophy subtypes | Roger Gunn, XingImaging, London, UK |
| 03:10–03:35 | Discussion | |
| 03:35–03:40 | ⚡ Blitz Session 2B | |
| MK6240 and Tauvid positivity, cognitive decline, and their relationship to Aβ PET deposition across the Alzheimer’s spectrum | Bruna Bellaver, University of Pittsburgh, PA | |
| Differential sensitivity of T1-MRI and FDG-PET for tracking neurodegeneration across progressive stages of tau pathology in AD | Jesús Silva-Rodríguez, CIEN Foundation, Madrid, Spain | |
| Midlife physical activity attenuates the association of earlier menopause with tau pathology and cognitive decline | Madeline Wood Alexander, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Canada | |
| 03:40–04:40 | Break / Poster Session 2B | |
| 04:40–06:10 | SESSION VI: Neuroinflammation — Chairs: Chuck Kreisl & David Morgan | |
| 04:45–05:00 | Deep mass spectrometry-based plasma proteomics reveals signatures of reactive astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease | Ruyu Shi, University of Pittsburgh, PA |
| 05:00–05:15 | Microglia-Astrocyte interplay modulates tau phosphorylation in Alzheimer’s disease | Tevy Chan, McGill University, Canada |
| 05:15–05:30 | Astrogliosis mediates the effects of amyloid, moderated by CVD, on tau and cognition in non-demented individuals | Victor Villemagne, University of Pittsburgh, PA |
| 05:30–05:45 | TSPO expression patterns in the postmortem brain: relevance to neuroinflammation imaging | Christina Moloney, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 05:45–06:10 | Session Discussion | |
| 06:10–06:15 | The PET-tle Royale (HAI’s Re-Myelination Showdown Quiz) | Christopher Schwarz, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN |
| 08:00–09:00 | Check-in / Breakfast | |
| 08:15–08:45 | Mentoring Session | |
| 09:00–10:20 | SESSION VII: Early and intermediate signals and prognostic value — Chairs: Sterling Johnson & Sylvia Villeneuve | |
| 09:05–09:20 | Discordance between amyloid PET visual read and quantitation: false positives or early pathology detection? | Margo Heston, UCSF, San Francisco, CA |
| 09:20–09:35 | Considerations for repeat testing of amyloid PET-validated plasma pTau217 diagnostic assays in the AHEAD 3-45 study | Robert Rissman, Keck School of Medicine, USC, San Diego, CA |
| 09:35–09:50 | The prognostic value of p tau217 levels on progression to clinical impairment over 2, 5 and 10 years | Rachel Buckley, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA |
| 09:50–10:05 | Distribution of tau and amyloid pathology across cognitive states in a population-based, admixed autopsy cohort | Lea Grinberg, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL |
| 10:05–10:30 | Session Discussion | |
| 10:30–10:35 | ⚡ Blitz Session 3A | |
| Amyloid does not discriminate: a meta-analysis of sex differences in Centiloids from 35,468 participants across 33 cohorts | Ganna Blazhenets, UCSF, San Francisco, CA | |
| Longitudinal tau PET progression follows language network spread in primary progressive aphasia | Adam Martersteck, University of Chicago, IL | |
| 10:35–11:35 | Break / Poster Session 3A | |
| 11:35–12:05 | ★ Keynote: Integrated proteomics for target and biomarker discovery in Alzheimer’s disease | Nick Seyfried, Emory University, Atlanta, GA |
| 12:05–12:20 | Keynote Discussion | |
| 12:20–01:10 | Lunch | |
| 01:10–02:40 | SESSION VIII: Moderators and co-pathologies — Chairs: Annie Cohen & Trey Hedden | |
| 01:15–01:30 | Investigating the role of socioeconomic status on AD biomarker relationships | Nazanin Ovaici, UC Berkeley, CA |
| 01:30–01:45 | Blood LDL cholesterol synergistically amplifies tau pathology and cognitive outcome in an APOE4-dependent manner | Tina Wang, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN |
| 01:45–02:00 | Mismatch between tau burden and cognitive domain performance identifies sub-groups with specific co-pathologies | Christopher Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA |
| 02:00–02:15 | Characterizing the brain-wide atrophy pattern of LATE-NC-associated hippocampal sclerosis: an imaging-pathologic association study | Michel Grothe, Reina Sofia Alzheimer Center, Madrid, Spain |
| 02:15–02:40 | Session Discussion | |
| 02:40–02:45 | ⚡ Blitz Session 3B | |
| Perivascular spaces: Predictors of longitudinal amyloid, tau, cerebrovascular biomarkers? | Audrey Low, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN | |
| Preliminary associations of plasma phosphorylated tau217 with regional tau deposition and accumulation in medial temporal and neocortical regions | Eva Pintucci, MGH / Harvard, Boston, MA | |
| Intermediate blood-based biomarker status clarified by PET and CSF in cognitively impaired individuals | Jacob Ziontz, UCSF, San Francisco, CA | |
| 02:45–03:45 | Break / Poster Session 3B | |
| 03:45–05:20 | SESSION IX: Therapeutics: Anti-abeta and anti-tau effects — Chair: Christopher Van Dyck | |
| 03:50–04:05 | Tau pathology interferes with amyloid removal by gantenerumab | Matteo Tonietto, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland |
| 04:05–04:20 | Clinical and PET outcomes following Aβ-targeting therapies in sporadic early-onset Alzheimer’s disease: Trial emulation using the LEADS cohort | Konstantinos Chiotis, UCSF, San Francisco, CA |
| 04:20–04:35 | Tau PET data from the open-label extension of TOGETHER: a Phase II study of bepranemab in prodromal–mild AD | Joël Mercier, UCB, Braine-l’Alleud, Belgium |
| 04:35–04:50 | Cortical laminar and Aβ species-specific correspondence between antemortem Aβ-PET and postmortem pathology in aducanumab-treated AD | Baayla Boon, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL |
| 04:50–05:05 | In vivo and post-mortem evidence of downstream pathophysiologic effects of treatment-related amyloid clearance | David Wolk, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA |
| 05:05–05:30 | Session Discussion | |
| 05:30–05:40 | Awards Ceremony | HAI Executive Committee |
| 05:40–05:45 | Concluding Remarks | Keith Johnson, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA |
2026 Guest Lectures & Sessions
Joyita Dutta, PhD
University of Massachusetts Amherst
“The role of AI in neuroimaging for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, staging, and prognosis.”
Nicholas Seyfried, DPhil
Emory University
“Integrated Proteomics for Target and Biomarker Discovery in Alzheimer’s Disease.”
Dietmar Thal, MD, PhD
KU Leuven
“The neuropathological basis of current AD biomarkers: Sensitivity and pathogenetic implications.”
ISTAART Collaboration
Neuroimaging in clinical decision making
Presentation and interactive discussion of real-world cases to identify evolving research needs. Changes in regulatory policy and approved anti-amyloid therapies have led to neuroimaging increasingly being used in clinical decision making — including for differential diagnosis, patient management, treatment qualification, and treatment monitoring.
Session Organizers: Tobey Betthauser, Alexa Pichet Binette, Yara Yakoub · Presenters: Petrice Cogswell, Chris Rowe, Gil Rabinovici
Keynote Recordings
Keynote · HAI2026
Joyita Dutta — The role of AI in neuroimaging for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, staging, and prognosis
Keynote · HAI2026
Nicholas Seyfried — Integrated Proteomics for Target and Biomarker Discovery in Alzheimer’s Disease
Keynote · HAI2026
Dietmar Thal — The neuropathological basis of current AD biomarkers
ISTAART Session · HAI2026
Neuroimaging in clinical decision making — Interactive case presentations
Alzforum’s Report
Independent coverage and analysis of HAI2026 by the Alzheimer Research Forum.