Dementia Matters

Though new blood-based biomarker tests have made it less expensive, less invasive and more accessible to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, they can’t replace the diagnostic process as a whole. Dr. Eric Widera joins the podcast to discuss the importance of assessing function when making a dementia diagnosis, what functional change can look like and how this kind of assessment can be incorporated into primary care practice, as well as debate how Alzheimer’s disease blood tests should be used in primary care.

Guest: Eric Widera, MD, professor of medicine, clinician-educator, Division of Geriatrics, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), director, Chief of Geriatrics, Palliative and Extended Care, medical director, Hospice & Palliative Care Service, San Francisco VA Health Care System, co-founder, GeriPal podcast, co-founder, ePrognosis

Show Notes
Read Dr. Widera’s viewpoint, “The Limited Role of Alzheimer Disease Blood-Based Biomarkers in Primary Care,” published by JAMA Internal Medicine online.

Read the viewpoint by Drs. Chin and Widera, “Importance of Function for Alzheimer Diagnosis and Management—More Than Memory,” published by JAMA Internal Medicine online.

Visit the University of Washington’s Cognition in Primary Care website, mentioned by Dr. Widera at 11:50 and 43:39, online.

Listen to Drs. Chin and Johnson’s episode of the Geripal podcast, “LATE vs Alzheimer’s: Biomarkers, Mixed Dementia, and Clinical Realities with Nate Chin & Sterling Johnson,” online.

Listen to GeriPal on their website or wherever you get your podcasts.

Read more about Dr. Widera at his profile on the UCSF Department of Medicine website.

Connect with us
Find transcripts and more at our website.

Email Dementia Matters: dementiamatters@medicine.wisc.edu

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Subscribe to the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s e-newsletter.

Enjoy Dementia Matters? Consider making a gift to the Dementia Matters fund through the UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s. All donations go toward outreach and production.

Learn about Dr. Chin’s book, When Memory Fades: What to Expect at Every Stage, from Early Signs to Full Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia.

New research is looking at the effects of environmental factors on the brain as we age. Dr. Kathryn Conlon joins the podcast to discuss how factors like air pollution and lead exposure can affect cognition and overall brain health. She highlights how pollution affects both semantic and episodic memory as well as strategies for protecting brain health against these pollutants.
Guest: Kathryn Conlon, PhD, MPH, associate professor, University of California Davis

Show Notes
Register and learn more about the upcoming Fall Community Conversation, happening on September 29, 2026, on our website.

Read Dr. Conlon’s study titled “Association between proximity to a lead-releasing facility and cognition in diverse cohorts,” published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, online.
Read Dr. Conlon’s study titled “Particulate air pollution and domain-specific cognition among Black adults,” published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, online.

Learn what the air quality is like where you are at AirNow.gov, mentioned at 37:15 by Dr. Conlon.

Learn more about Dr. Conlon at her profile on the UC Davis Health website.

Listen to our past episode, “Study Finds Air Pollution a Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease,” on our website.

Connect with us
Find transcripts and more at our website.

Email Dementia Matters: dementiamatters@medicine.wisc.edu

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Subscribe to the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s e-newsletter.

Enjoy Dementia Matters? Consider making a gift to the Dementia Matters fund through the UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s. All donations go toward outreach and production.

Learn about Dr. Chin’s book, When Memory Fades: What to Expect at Every Stage, from Early Signs to Full Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia.

In recent years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved new biomarker tools for Alzheimer’s disease, including blood tests and tracers for brain scans. How are these tools used in research to help develop new Alzheimer’s treatments? Dr. Henrik Zetterberg returns to the podcast to discuss how blood tests, brain scans and other biomarker developments are transforming clinical trials and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions ahead of his upcoming Healthy Living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) event.

Guest: Henrik Zetterberg, MD, PhD, professor of neurochemistry, University of Gothenburg, visiting professor, University of Wisconsin−Madison and University College London, Biomarker Core leader, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

Show Notes
Register and learn more about the upcoming Healthy Living with MCI event featuring Dr. Zetterberg, happening on September 11, 2026, and future programs on our website.

Register and learn more about the upcoming Fall Community Conversation, happening on September 29, 2026, on our website.

Listen to our past episodes with Dr. Zetterberg, “Addressing Cochrane’s Review on Amyloid-Targeting Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease” and “The Future of Fluid Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias,” on our website.

Learn more about LATE, mentioned by Dr. Zetterberg at 24:05, by listening to our episode “LATE, Explained” on our website.

Read more about the Alzheimer’s disease blood tests recently approved by the U.S. FDA on our website.

Connect with us
Find transcripts and more at our website.

Email Dementia Matters: dementiamatters@medicine.wisc.edu

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Subscribe to the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s e-newsletter.

Enjoy Dementia Matters? Consider making a gift to the Dementia Matters fund through the UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s. All donations go toward outreach and production.

Learn about Dr. Chin’s book, When Memory Fades: What to Expect at Every Stage, from Early Signs to Full Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia.

In recent years, public interest in brain health has increased. So how are Americans understanding brain health information and incorporating it into their own lives? This year, the Alzheimer’s Association released a special report focused on how people understand and support brain health throughout their lives, covering topics like how they perceive cognitive health, the importance of lifestyle behaviors and more. Dr. Heather Snyder from the Alzheimer’s Association joins us on the podcast to analyze this report and share her insights, as well as share updates from the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC). 

Guest: Heather M. Snyder, PhD, senior vice president, medical & scientific relations, Alzheimer's Association

Show Notes
Read the Alzheimer's Association Facts and Figures and their special report, Brain Health in America: Understanding and Supporting Lifelong Cognitive Health, on their website.

Learn more about the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on their website. 

Read about the LatAm-FINGERS and PROTECT-Cog studies on the AAIC website.

Learn about the Alzheimer’s Association’s Brain Health Habit Builder on their website.

Learn more about ALZPro, the Alzheimer's Association’s central hub of resources for professionals, mentioned by Dr. Snyder at 25:53 online.

Register and learn more about the upcoming Fall Community Conversation, happening on September 29, 2026, on our website.

Connect with us
Find transcripts and more at our website.

Email Dementia Matters: dementiamatters@medicine.wisc.edu

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Subscribe to the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s e-newsletter.

Enjoy Dementia Matters? Consider making a gift to the Dementia Matters fund through the UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s. All donations go toward outreach and production.

Learn about Dr. Chin’s book, When Memory Fades: What to Expect at Every Stage, from Early Signs to Full Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia.

Twenty-five years ago, a single participant enrolled in what would become the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP), now one of the largest and longest-running studies of Alzheimer's risk in the world. To celebrate this milestone, we’re joined by Dr. Mark Sager, who co-founded WRAP, along with current multi-principal investigators Dr. Sterling Johnson and Dr. Jessica Caldwell, to discuss how the study has evolved, the discoveries that have reshaped our understanding of Alzheimer's prevention and what the next 25 years may hold for the field. 

Guests: Mark Sager, MD, founder, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute (WAI), WRAP, Sterling Johnson, PhD, multi-principal investigator, WRAP, associate director, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, WAI, Jessica Caldwell, multi-principal investigator, WRAP, visiting associate professor, department of neurology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Show Notes
This episode was uploaded as an exclusive video episode on the Wisconsin ADRC YouTube page on August 12, 2026. Watch the video interview here.

Listen to our episode with Dr. Gina Green-Harris, mentioned at 12:27, on our website.

Learn more about WRAP on the WRAP website.

Learn about Drs. Sager, Johnson and Caldwell at their profiles on the WAI website.

Connect with us
Find transcripts and more at our website.

Email Dementia Matters: dementiamatters@medicine.wisc.edu

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Subscribe to the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s e-newsletter.

Enjoy Dementia Matters? Consider making a gift to the Dementia Matters fund through the UW Initiative to End Alzheimer’s. All donations go toward outreach and production.

Learn about Dr. Chin’s book, When Memory Fades: What to Expect at Every Stage, from Early Signs to Full Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia.