General Information

Jointly organized by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. 

This two-day virtual workshop will bring together leading researchers to examine the growing body of evidence linking zoster vaccination to reduced dementia incidence. Sessions will cover epidemiological evidence, plausible biological mechanisms, opportunities to leverage existing datasets, and considerations for studying clinical efficacy. Our goal is to identify knowledge gaps and potential opportunities. Though the primary focus of the workshop is zoster vaccination, many of the biological mechanisms and methodological approaches discussed will be broadly informative to the study of vaccination and dementia risk reduction.


svg Meeting Contacts

Sessions/Agenda

Zoster Vaccine and Dementia Risk Reduction: Evidence and Mechanisms - Virtual Session
Monday, June 1, 2026-Tuesday, June 2, 2026
10:00 AM-05:00 PM(EST)
Max. Virtual Capacity: 1000 Virtual Participants: 293
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 The effect of herpes zoster vaccination on incident dementia and dementia-related outcomes: Evidence from quasi-experimental studies
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
TBD

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

2:40pm Immunological factors in AD/ADRD development 
TBD

3:00pm Viral infections and neurodegenerative disease
Dr. Ben Readhead (Arizona State University)

3:20pm Neurovirology of Zoster
Dr. Maria Nagel (University of Colorado)

3:40pm Varicella-Zoster Virus Neurotropism - Implications for AD/ADRD and Dementia and Model Systems
Dr. Vicki Traina-Dorge (Tulane)

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 Galeh (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)

11:00am Synthetic cohorts 
Dr. Maria Glymour (Boston University)

11:25am 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

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


Logistics

The registration deadline is May 31, 2026. Individuals who register on or before this date will recieve a Zoom Webinar link to participate in the meeting. For those who miss the registration deadline, the meeting can be streamed on NIH Videocast.
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