In June 2017, a diverse group of experts in Alzheimer's disease convened to discuss how to accelerate getting new drugs to patients to both prevent and treat the disease. Participants concluded that we need a more robust, diversified drug development pipeline. Alzheimer disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder marked by cognitive and behavioral impairment that significantly interferes with social and occupational functioning. It is an incurable disease with a long preclinical period and progressive course. In AD, plaques develop in the hippocampus, a structure deep in the brain that helps to encode memories, and in other areas of the cerebral cortex that are involved in thinking and making decisions. Whether plaques themselves cause AD or whether they are a by-product of the AD process remains unknown. The following image depicts one of the cardinal neuroimaging findings in AD – hippocampal atrophy. The most common type of dementia. A progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment. Involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language. Can seriously affect a person’s ability to carry out daily activities. Although scientists are learning more every day, right now, they still do not know what causes Alzheimer’s disease.