digiDEM Bavaria at the Alzheimer Europe Conference in Bologna

digiDEM Bayern presented its latest research findings at the 35th Alzheimer Europe Conference in Bologna, Italy, through lectures and poster presentations. The overarching theme of the international conference for dementia research this year was „Connecting science and communities: The future of dementia care.“ The conference, held from October 6th to 10th, 2025, at the Bologna Congress Center, reached a record number of attendees with over 1,500 participants from 48 countries.

Right at the beginning of the congress, relatives of people with dementia, but also those affected themselves, emphasized the importance of dementia research in a passionate and emotional appeal and pointed out how important early dementia diagnosis is. It is equally important for society to destigmatize the disease. 

In the more than 800 expert lectures, the most diverse aspects of dementia were illuminated: for example, the needs of informal and formal caregivers, rare subtypes of dementia and Alzheimer's dementia in children, to name just a few examples. Of course, there was also discussion about the use of artificial intelligence and digital aids for people with dementia and new treatment options.

Scientific exchange

The expert presentations by digiDEM Bavaria researchers Lisa Laininger and Dr. Nikolas Dietzel were very well attended. Poster presentations by Anne Keefer (M.Sc.), Lea Dütsch (M.Sc.), Sina Degirmenci (M.Sc.), Jana Rühl (M.Sc.), and Dr. Michael Zeiler were also heavily crowded and characterized by intensive technical and scientific exchange. 

In his concluding speech, Italian dementia researcher Marco Trabucchi looked to the future. For the first time since 1906, when Alzheimer's dementia was first described, there is a „glimmer of hope“ for those affected and their families. In his own adaptation of the words of the poet and Nobel laureate in Literature Joseph Brodsky, Trabucchi said, „If anything can replace memory, it is love.“