Professor Jianping Jia from Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University won the 2021 International Alzheimer’s Disease Association Zaven Khachaturian Scientific Achievement Award. This is the first Chinese scholar to receive the award, representing that China’s Alzheimer’s disease research has reached the international frontier level, and has won respect and honor for Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, and even China. This will inspire us to make greater breakthroughs in scientific research and clinical translation of Alzheimer’s disease.
On July 26-30, the International Conference of the Alzheimer’s Association awarded the 2021 Zaven Khachaturian Scientific Achievement Award. This award is named after Dr. Khachaturian, the father of Alzheimer’s disease research in the United States. It was established to recognize an individual whose compelling vision, selfless dedication and most extraordinary achievement has significantly advanced the field of Alzheimer’s disease science. The winners of this award in 2019 and 2020 are David Knopman, director of the Department of Neurology at Mayo Hospital, and Guy McKhann, director of the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. They are the co-chairs of the Alzheimer’s Disease Standards Working Group, and lead the formulation of the revised standards for Alzheimer’s disease, making outstanding contributions to the world’s anti-dementia cause. In 2021, Chinese neurologist Jianping Jia won this award for his decades of in-depth research on Alzheimer’s disease.
Professor Jianping Jia reported the first case of Chinese familial Alzheimer’s disease internationally in 2005. He systematically studied the mechanism of gene mutation and opened up a new direction for Alzheimer’s Disease genetic research. Then he established the Chinese familial Alzheimer’s disease cohort, reported more than 90 gene variants and their pathogenesis, and provided Chinese data for global Alzheimer’s Disease genetic research. He created a method for early identification and prediction of Alzheimer’s Disease , and developed 6 biomarkers that can predict it 5 to 7 years before the onset of symptoms. This makes it possible to treat Alzheimer’s Disease before and prevent before disease. He reported that there are 15 million people with dementia and 38.7 million patients with mild cognitive impairment in China, which is a significant increase from the number of people suffering from the two types of diseases (10 million and 24 million) a decade ago; the annual cost of dementia was as high as more than 1 trillion yuan; most hospitals lacked dementia specialists, and it is imperative to establish an effective diagnosis and treatment system for dementia in China. He also led the formulation of 27 industry standards and guidelines, launched two new drugs for vascular dementia, and presided over 29 domestic and foreign anti-dementia clinical trials, which greatly improved the diagnosis and treatment of dementia in China.
He was the chairman of the Neurology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, the founding chairman of the Neurology Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and the head of major dementia organizations. He paid special attention to the high incidence of dementia in China after entering an aging society, and organized experts from all over the country to make unremitting efforts to overcome this disease that threatens the health of the elderly.
After the award ceremony, many internationally renowned experts wrote to professor Jianping Jia to congratulate him and affirmed his many achievements in science, public health and public policy of Alzheimer’s disease. But professor Jianping Jia said flatly: “This award not only belongs to me, it belongs to our team and national Alzheimer’s disease researchers.” He believes that the current Alzheimer’s disease research needs to focus on clinical medicine transformation, accurate diagnosis in asymptomatic period, explore pathogenesis other than Aβ, and develop new multi-target therapeutic drugs on this basis.Finally, he also emphasized that Alzheimer’s disease can be prevented, and risk factors should be actively controlled, lifestyles should be improved, and the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease should be effectively prevented, and human brain health should be improved.