Estrogen and Progestin Intervention in Brain Aging and Alzheimer's Disease

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We are planning and have commitments of all invited presenters for a two-day conference on the "Window of Opportunity for Estrogen and Progestin Intervention in Brain Aging and Alzheimer's disease". This meeting will be held in Fort Worth Texas at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) and will feature many of the major participants currently engaged in the national discussion of the window of opportunity. The overall objective of this "Window of Opportunity" Conference is to provide an authoritative update on new science and reanalysis of the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) to determine if data support or reject the hypothesis of a window of opportunity for hormone therapy in the treatment/prevention of cognitive decline in post-menopausal women. The specific objectives are: (1) To assemble a team of leading thinkers on the subject of "widow of opportunity" in order to consider new science and re-evaluate existing science on the subject. (2) To assemble an audience of endocrinologists, geriatricians, gynecologists, neuroscientists and others with an interest in hormone therapy and Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment, delay and/or prevention. (3) To create a forum for free exchange of ideas on the subject of "window of opportunity", using a novel format for the meeting that encourages exchange of ideas. (4) To publish the proceeding of the meeting in a high profile text or journal. (5) To evaluate the effectiveness of the conference in achieving its stated objectives. Five sessions are proposed, including a graduate student/postdoctoral fellow session at which young scientists will present their unpublished data that address the issue of a window of opportunity. Also, a data blitz session will allow all participants to present "breaking news" type data on the topic. This will be followed by three sessions that each address different facets of the window of opportunity issue.! As of this submission, all proposed presenters have confirmed their willingness to participate, session leaders have been identified and we are in final negotiations with a publisher of the proposed text of the proceeding of the meeting. In addition to the $30,000 herein requested, we have raised $20,000 locally to support this conference and are committed to raising more funds to support expanding the graduate student/post-doctoral fellow session(s). Finally, we have in place an evaluation plan for the assessment of the effectiveness of the conference and the presenters in achieving the goals of the conference. This conference is needed and timely, since menopausal age women will reach 41 million by 2020 and discovering the appropriate timing of the right hormones is much needed. Also, we are not aware of a window of opportunity meeting scheduled in 2012, despite that urgent need for a reconsideration of the use of hormones for brain protection in some post-menopausal women. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Menopausal age women will reach 41 million by 2020 and discovering the appropriate timing of the right hormones is much needed. Also, we are not aware of a window of opportunity meeting scheduled in 2012, despite that urgent need for a reconsideration of the use of hormones for brain protection in some post- menopausal women. We propose a conference that invites many of the leading thinkers in the field to consider if timing of post-menopausal hormone therapy affects the response of the brain to these hormones.