There is an approaching wave of people living with dementia. Within the next 35 years, dementia incidence rates will double worldwide (Dolgi, Nature, 2016). While this trend has been observed for decades by many scientists the question will be: are we going to get in front of it!? Actions on a policy level have been somewhat moderate as reported by a US House of Representive member “we’re faced with a tsunami and we’re trying to deal with it with a bucket”. Other avenues to tackle this societal challenge are desperately needed. This is what the EyesOnALZ project does: it calls for immediate action by involving citizens in research to accelerate Alzheimers research! We absolutely love it.
The Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft recently started a flagship project to open up research processes across various disciplines. As a result, the Open Innovation in Science Research and Competence Center (OIS CENTER) has been founded to support and cooperate with projects like EyesOnAlz. This is why we are really excited to host our upcoming catchathon in Austria.
We hope to engage many citizens in this event and will keep you posted on this blog. Let’s free some stalls, together!
Ben & Patrick