Sex and Gender Differences in Alzheimer's Disease

Dr. Maria Teresa Ferretti is a neuroscientist and neuroimmunologist with expertise in Alzheimer's disease and gender medicine. After graduating in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies from the University of Cagliari (Italy), Dr Ferretti started a career as a researcher in the field of neurodegeneration, working in England (for the company Glaxo Smith and Kline), Canada (where she earned a PhD in Pharmacology and Therapy from McGill University of Montreal in 2011) and Switzerland (where she was Group Leader at University of Zurich). She has published numerous scientific papers in prestigious journals including Nature, Science and PNAS; passionate about scientific communication and outreach, she was a TED-x speaker in 2019. Currently, she is the Chief Scientific Officer and co-Founder of the Women's Brain Project; in addition, she is an external lecturer at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Dr. Annemarie Schumacher Dimech serves as President of the Women's Brain Project, and is also one of the organization's co-founders. She heads the new Certificate of Advanced Studies in Palliative Care and the further education programme in Healthcare and Medical Leadership at the University of Lucerne. She graduated in psychology from the University of Malta and further to receiving a Chevening Scholarship, completed an MSc in Health Psychology from the University of Surrey (UK). In 2010, she obtained her PhD at the University of Bern. Today, she is employed at the University of Lucerne where she developed and is heading its programme of further education in Palliative Care and works in the development of further education programmes in healthcare and medicine. Her fascination with the interaction between body and mind motivates her to study physical and environmental factors affecting mental health. Sex and gender differences in various factors, including socioeconomic and psychological factors, affecting brain and mental health was her motivation to join forces with Antonella Santuccione Chadha, Maria Teresa Ferretti, and Gautam Maitra to found the Women's Brain Project. This approach forms the basis of her work with the Women's Brain Project, where she contributes to educational and scientific events as well as various projects including publications, research, and other scientific events. Dr. Antonella Santuccione Chadha is a medical doctor with expertise in clinical pathology, neuroscience and psychiatric disorders. She is head of stakeholder engagement for Alzheimer's disease at Biogen. She is co-founder and CEO of the non-profit organization Women's Brain Project which is addressing the influence of sex and gender on mental and brain diseases. She is the Vice-president of Euresearch. As a medical doctor, Antonella has decades of experience in preclinical research, patient treatment, clinical development, medical affairs and setting up the international regulatory framework for Alzheimer's disease. Always focused on solving the puzzles related to Alzheimer's and other psychiatric diseases, she has worked with Swissmedic, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, several European universities, the EU Commission Directorate for Health and Food Safety, the World Health Organization, the CEOi and several Alzheimer's' disease Organizations. Since 2018 she is listed among the top 100 Women in Business in Switzerland and in 2019 she has been elected Woman of the Year in Switzerland by the Magazine Women in Business . In 2020, she received the World Sustainability Award for her involvement in advancing Precision Medicine. She also received the award Premio Medicina Italia for her contribution to the management of the pandemic. Dr. Santuccione Chadha is keenly interested in removing bias when developing solutions for mental and neurological diseases to achieve precision medicines.