12 The last day of the conference has special meaning for Tom Cassidy, community-board chair of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Delaware Valley Chapter. Cassidy lost his mother to Alzheimer’s, and now his mother- in-law is living with the disease. He’s here to attend AAIC For All. A new extension of the conference, it’s a no-cost, single-day event for clinicians and interested community members to learn about the latest research findings. The room is packed with hundreds of attendees, some in wheelchairs being pushed by caregivers. A few thousand more are watching the event via live-stream. The numbers are a stark reminder of the urgent need for tools to prevent the disease, diagnose it sooner, treat it better, and snuff it out entirely. “I think what we can all take away from this conference,” Cassidy says, after the session has ended, “is that we’re not alone. Many, many absolutely brilliant and committed people are working so hard for us. Significant progress is being made. There’s real hope.” He’s thrilled that the Alzheimer’s Association chose Philadelphia to host the conference. The event elevates local awareness of his chapter. That will go a long way in attracting new volunteers — every chapter’s backbone — to support the association’s mission and fundraisers, like The Walk to End Alzheimer’s. “This is a community issue, it affects every single community in this country,” Cassidy says. “So we have to rally as communities to care for people who have it.” The day winds down, and the convention center empties as attendees head to the planes, trains and automobiles that will take them home. It’s been an intense five days of learning and inspiration. Everyone has earned a rest. Nonetheless, a few groups of stragglers remain in the center’s historic Grand Hall, which for 91 years was the Reading Railroad train shed, site of countless hellos and goodbyes. They’re laughing, hugging, trading contact information. They’re looking at calendars to figure out when and where they might meet again — new and old friends reluctant to part, savoring these last moments of deep connection in Philadelphia. Prokopis Prokopiou is one of them. He’s a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, and this conference, he says simply, has been great. “I’ve bonded again with people I know, met new people and — who knows? — maybe we’ll initiate new collaborations,” he says, sounding both pleasantly tired and deeply satisfied. “It’s wonderful to see all the fields moving towards eventually curing the disease. That’s exactly why we’re here — to keep moving in the right direction, not by ourselves but together.” Still, it must be said: If and when a cure is found, it won’t be only because great minds came together to help. But because great hearts did, too. And Philadelphia has been honored to support them. PART FIVE IT’S A WRAP
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