Speaker Profile
PMWC PIONEER AWARD
M.D., Director, Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, WashU
Biography
David Holtzman is one of the defining figures in Alzheimer’s disease research. His work established key foundations of the disease biology that now underpin biomarker-driven detection and therapeutic development, including the role of apolipoprotein E in amyloid-beta metabolism and in tau-mediated neurodegeneration, the role of the innate and adaptive immune response in neurodegeneration, and the influence of the sleep-wake cycle on amyloid accumulation and tau-mediated injury.
His laboratory helped drive the development and validation of cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers that detect Alzheimer’s pathology years before symptoms emerge, directly enabling the earlier, biology-based clinical trial strategies now shaping the field. His contributions to tau biology and neurodegeneration further clarified the sequence linking amyloid, tau, and neuronal loss.
A member of the National Academy of Medicine and former President of the American Neurological Association, Holtzman has translated decades of mechanistic discovery into the scientific framework for Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment. His career helped define the scientific basis for precision neurology in neurodegenerative disease.
Talk
Chair a session on Blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease
From Blood Test to Treatment - Are We Finally Diagnosing Alzheimer's Early Enough
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Ira Mellman, Medici Therapeutics
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Jedd D. Wolchok, Weill Cornell Medicine
• Suzanne Topalian, Johns Hopkins
• Levi Garraway, Roche
Keynote: Future Breakthroughs in Immuno-Oncology: New Targets, Modalities & Combinations
• Levi Garraway, Roche
Checkpoint 2.0 in Practice: PD-1+VEGF Wins, Resistance Salvage & Biomarker Gates
• Chair: Anne Kasmar, Parexel
• Jedd D. Wolchok, Weill Cornell Medicine
• Roy S. Herbst, Yale
• Nathan Fowler, BostonGene
Immunotherapy with Personalized Cancer Vaccines: Who, When, How Fast?
• Chair: Suzanne Topalian, Johns Hopkins
• Tal Zaks, Orbimed
• Lelia Delamarre, Genentech
The Next Era: Neutralizing On-Target, Off-Tumor Effects by Turning Cancer Against Itself
• Cyriac Roeding, Earli
Fireside Chat: Immune Tolerance to Cure, A Conversation With...
• Lee Hood, Institute for Systems Biology
• Mary E. Brunkow, Institute for Systems Biology
ADCs in the Checkpoint Era: Who Benefits, What to Combine, What to Avoid
• Chair: Shreya Badhrinarayanan, Pfizer
• Gerold Meinhardt, Daiichi Sankyo
• Vadim Koshkin, UCSF
Strategic IP Management in Cell and Gene Therapy: Navigating Legal and Practical Challenges
• Janet Xiao, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Targeting the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) in Practice: Biomarkers & Combos
• Chair: Ira Mellman, Medici Therapeutics
• Dmitry Gabrilovich, AstraZeneca
• Jennifer Mataraza, Novartis
• Nathan Fowler, BostonGene
• Christine Moussion, Genentech
Future Breakthroughs in TME Reprogramming: New Modalities, Smarter Delivery & Overcoming Resistance
• David Kirn, ReIGNITE
Radiopharmaceutical Therapy: New Targets, Isotopes, and Challenges
• Chair: William Oh, Yale
• Munir Ghesani, United Theranostics
• Sandy Srinivas, Stanford
• Anna Karmann, AdvanCell
