About me. Hi, my name is Maria Teresa, I am a neuroscientist and a brain health advocate. For the second year in a row I am supporting a unique initiative in the Alzheimer's and dementia field called Walking The Talk for Dementia (WTD). And I am doing that...running!

About the run. I am running the upcoming Frauenlauf on May 25th in Vienna. Frauenlauf is the biggest female competition in Europe with over 20K participants coming to Vienna for a day of run and fun. In the pic below, me at the end of the run in 2024 wearing the WTD shirt.

Last year, thanks to a similar fundraiser, I managed to donate over 2500 euros to the Walking the Talk for Dementia project. This year I am trying this again!

About WTD. Walking the Talk for Dementia (WTD) brings patients living with dementia and their caregivers together with experts in the field of dementia for a 4-day walk in the beautiful backdrop of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Below you see a pic of the event last year.

The Camino is followed by a 2-day conference. Last year I had the privilege of hosting the conference and chairing a panel on diversity in Alzheimer (pic below) featuring a person living with dementia (Brother John from US), a psychiatrist (Rohith Khanna Deivasigamani from India) and a brain health researcher (Tendai Chisirimunhu from South Africa) - just to give you an idea of how diverse and international the event is.

This is a unique initiative as most conversations in this field normally happen in silos - conferences of neurologists, meetings of nurses, congresses of psychiatrists and events organized by patient associations. But to address the societal issues of dementia we need a new approach, that unites all voices. This is why WTD is so important for me - I believe this initiative can transform our field, educate patients as well as experts, and foster new solutions.

The problem. Well it turns out the most difficult part in organizing such an event is finding the funds for patients and caregivers to attend – they do not have institutional support for this type of travel, like doctors and scientist do. But patients and caregivers are the heart of the event!

So I thought I would ask you to help me. The money we will collect will be donated to WTD to support the organization of the event and in particular the participation of people with dementia and their caregivers.

How can you help? simply donating would be just amazing, sharing in your network of course amplifies the message. But maybe you also want to join the run and the fundraiser and be part of this transformation for people living with dementia? If so, join me!

Every little cent helps. Thanks!