Zoster Vaccine and Dementia Risk Reduction: Evidence and Mechanisms

Monday, June 1, 2026-Tuesday, June 2, 2026
10:00 AM-05:00 PM(EST)

Max. Virtual Capacity: 1000 Virtual Participants: 445

Agenda:

June 1, 2026 (Day 1)

10:00 am Welcome and Opening Remarks
Dr. Richard Hodes, Director, National Institute on Aging

Session 1: Zoster vaccination and dementia risk - Existing evidence
Session Facilitator: Dr. Clinton Wright (NINDS)

10:10am Preventing Dementia with Shingles Vaccination? Evidence from Quasi-Randomized Vaccine Rollouts
Dr. Pascal Geldsetzer (Stanford University)

10:45am  Recombinant zoster vaccine and dementia: Observations in older adults in Southern California 
Dr. Emily Rayens (Kaiser Permanente)

11:15am Beyond Zoster: Other vaccines and dementia risk reduction
Dr. Paul Schulz (University of Texas Health Science Center)

11:45am Regression discontinuity designs: What can we learn
Dr. Matias Cattaneo (Princeton University)

12:15pm Panel discussion

1:00pm Break

Session 2: Exploring plausible biological mechanisms
Session Facilitator: Dr. Avindra Nath (NINDS)

2:00pm Phenotypic and etiological heterogeneity of dementia
Dr. Ronald Peterson (Mayo Clinic)

2:20pm Risk factors and modulators of the trajectory of dementia
Dr. Roberta Brinton (University of Arizona)

2:40pm Glial targets and therapeutic strategies in AD¿
Dr. Marco Colonna (BJC Institute of Health at Washington University)

3:00pm Mapping the Landscape of Infectious Contributions to Neurodegenerative Diseases¿
Dr. Ben Readhead (Arizona State University)

3:20pm Varicella Zoster Virus & Dementia: Mechanisms of Action
Dr. Maria Nagel (University of Colorado)

3:40pm Simian Varicella Virus (SVV) Infection in Nonhuman Primates, a Model to Study Viral Contributions to Dementia Pathologies
Dr. Vicki Traina-Dorge (Tulane University, Tulane National Biomedical Research Center)

4:00pm Panel discussion

4:50pm Day 1 Closing Remarks 
Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, Acting Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

June 2, 2026 (Day 2)

10:00 am Day 2 Welcome and Opening Remarks
Dr. Amy Bany Adams, Acting Director, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Session 3: Leveraging existing cohorts and data resources
Session Facilitator: Dr. Maryam Ghaleh (NIA)

10:10am Lessons from EBV/MS study and implications for future trials of herpes viruses and dementia
Dr. Alberto Ascherio (Harvard University)

10:35am Reference trial emulation and experiences from a drug repositioning study system to delay the onset of dementia using US claims data
Dr. Sebastian Schneeweiss (Harvard University)

10:55am Synthetic cohorts 
Dr. Maria Glymour (Boston University)

11:20am Reducing Bias and Exploring Mechanisms in Vaccine-Dementia Research: Insights from ACT
Dr. Paul Crane (University of Washington) and Dr. Jen Nelson (Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute)

11:50pm Panel Discussion

12:15pm Break

Session 4: Considerations for clinical efficacy
Session Facilitators: Dr. Partha Bhattacharyya (NIA) and Dr. Akanni Clarke (NIA) 

1:00pm Ethical considerations for evaluating clinical efficacy of repurposed drugs approved for older adults in the older adult population
Dr. Emily Largent (University of Pennsylvania)

1:30pm Design approaches for prospectively designed trials evaluating efficacy for AD/dementia
Dr. Mary Sano (Mt. Sinai)

2:00pm Lessons learned from the VALAD study - a prospectively designed clinical trial targeting herpes simplex for AD
Dr. Davangere Devanand (Columbia University)

2:30pm Considerations for selecting and using biomarkers as endpoints of target engagement and/or clinical efficacy in AD/ADRD clinical trials and population studies
Dr. Reisa Sperling (Harvard Medical School)

3:00pm Panel Discussion - Speakers & Dr.Teresa Buracchio (FDA)

Session 5: Synthesis & Discussion
Session Facilitators: Dr. Jeffrey Cohen (NIAID) and Dr. Clinton Wright (NINDS)

3:30pm Session Recaps
Session 1-4 Facilitators

4:00pm Discussion/Q&A
Workshop Speakers

4:50pm Closing Remarks
Dr. Richard Hodes, Director, National Institute on Aging

5:00pm Adjourn