International Consensus Meeting: Sex and Gender in Cognitive Aging – Where Are We and What's Next?
CCNA Knowledge Mobilization Activity (2024)

Building a community of experts on Sex and Gender in Cognitive Aging

In March 2024, the "International Consensus Meeting: Sex and Gender in Cognitive Aging: Where are We? and What's Next?" brought together a group of international experts including members of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) to discuss the current state of sex and gender research in cognitive aging research, setting the stage for new directions in research, diagnosis and treatment.
The initial main outcome of the 3-day meeting was building a community of experts that laid the groundwork for a consensus document and future meetings.
The meeting has the potential to change the paradigm of cognitive aging research to include sex and gender in the design and interpretation of human and non-human animal studies, and to raise clinician awareness of the sex and gender dimensions of diagnosis and treatment.
The meeting had a profound impact on participants who shared that they "can't remember the last time I felt this energized after a conference" and that they "will never think about their research the way that they had before the meeting".
Next steps for future work include drafting a consensus document and organizing another meeting to build on newly obtained knowledge and addressing identified areas of ignorance.

About the Team

Dr. Gillian Einstein, lead of CCNA's Sex and Gender Hub [formerly Women, Sex, Gender, and Dementia (WSGD) Program].
CCNA Sex and Gender Champions: Drs. Alexandra Fiocco (Team 5), Philippe Desmarais (Team 13), Kathy Pichora-Fuller (Team 17), Jennifer Walker (Team 18), Louis Bherer (Team 12) and Margaret Fahnestock (Team 2).
Dr. Inbal Itzhak, Senior Knowledge Mobilization Officer.
Drs. Susan Resnick and Victor Henderson, members of CCNA's International Scientific Advisory Board.