Researchers from across the Asia-Pacific region met in Jinan, China, on 7-8 June 2025 at the World-Wide FINGERS Network meeting, to share new ideas on how to help prevent dementia and memory loss. Over 50 researchers and students from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Sweden, and China took part in the event.
Latest advances in dementia epidemiology and multidomain interventions
Throughout the meeting, six focused scientific sessions explored the latest advances in dementia epidemiology and multidomain interventions aimed at delaying cognitive decline across diverse populations, particularly within the Asia-Pacific region. Leading researchers involved in major projects within the World-Wide FINGERS Network-such as the "Maintain Your Brain" online initiative, the SINGER trial, the AGELESS trial, and the SUPERBRAIN trial-as well as those from the China-FINGERS Alliance, including the CHINA-IN-MUDI project, the Heritage Study, the Multimodal Intervention to Improve Cognition in Communities in Beijing, and the MIND-China study, presented their insights. They shared new discoveries, exchanged experiences, and discussed future directions, all with the shared goal of improving dementia prevention on a global scale.
The global epidemiology of dementia
The meeting also delved into the global epidemiology of dementia, highlighting recent findings from the COSMIC consortium as well as studies from Sweden and China. By fostering collaboration among multidomain dementia intervention projects within the region and beyond, participants laid the groundwork for ongoing partnership. Energised by the event's success, attendees enthusiastically agreed to establish the World-Wide FINGERS Network Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting as a recurring forum for progress and shared learning.
Established in 2017 by the Karolinska Institutet (Professor Miia Kivipelto ) in partnership with the US Alzheimer's Association, the World-Wide FINGERS Network unites over 70 FINGER-style projects worldwide to advance dementia risk reduction and prevention. The recent Asia-Pacific regional meeting was held as part of the China-Sweden Mobility Program, "Reducing the global burden of dementia via strengthening translational research across sociocultural settings"-a collaborative effort between the Aging Research Center (ARC) at Karolinska Institutet and Shandong Provincial Hospital, affiliated with Shandong First Medical University.
This initiative is made possible through joint support from the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) and the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC), with principal investigators Chengxuan Qiu , Assocciate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology at the Division of Aging Research Center (ARC) , Karolinska Institutet, and Yifeng Du, Chief Physician and Professor of Neurology and Dean of the Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
