On 20–21 October, Alzheimer Europe participated in the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) Forum 2026, held in Brussels under the theme “Translating research into long-term impact”. The event brought together over 400 participants from research, industry, healthcare, patient organisations and policymaking to explore how public-private partnerships can deliver lasting benefits for patients and healthcare systems. Angela Bradshaw, Deputy Executive Director of Alzheimer Europe, contributed to two discussions during the Forum.
On 20 October, she participated in a workshop entitled “Enhancing healthcare readiness: how to prepare health systems for innovation”, alongside representatives from academia and industry including Linus Jonsson (Karolinska Institutet), Dipak Kotecha (University of Birmingham), Stefan Schlichting (Program Dräger One) and Tanja Stamm (University of Vienna). The discussion explored how health systems can prepare to adopt new diagnostic technologies, treatments and integrated care pathways. Drawing on Alzheimer Europe’s experience in EU-funded research projects, including AMYPAD, PARADIGM, ROADMAP and RADAR-AD, Angela highlighted the importance of shared accountability in order to address implementation challenges, including workforce capacity, infrastructure, evidence generation and equitable access to innovation.
The following day, Angela joined a plenary panel on “The importance of multi-stakeholder alignment to translate research into long-term impact”, moderated by former IMI/IHI Executive Director Pierre Meulien, alongside panelists Niranjan Bose (Gates Ventures), Ralf Herold (EMA), Kristin Reiche (IT:U and Fraunhofer IZI) and Raquel Yotti Alvarez (PERTE, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation). During the panel, Angela highlighted European public-private partnerships as unique vehicles for collaboration, bringing together diverse stakeholders, aligning research priorities with patient needs and supporting the translation of scientific advances into practice.
The session also featured the launch of EPND+ by Niranjan Bose, Managing Director for Health and Life Sciences at Gates Ventures. EPND+ (EPNDplus) is an independent non-profit organisation established to sustain and develop the infrastructure and resources created through the IMI-funded European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND) project, in which Alzheimer Europe was a contributing partner.
Read more about the IHI Forum 2026 and watch the plenary discussion.
