Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative Appoints Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa as Senior Advisor to Board of Directors
CONTACT: Susan Oliver, soliver@DavosAlzheimersCollaborative.org, 703-216-4078
(Davos, Switzerland) - The Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative (DAC), the organization leading an unprecedented response to Alzheimer’s disease, today announced the appointment of Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Vice Chair of the World Dementia Council and Chairman of the Health and Global Policy Institute, as Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors. He joins former Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Margaret Chan, as the second Senior Advisor to the organization. Dr. Kurokawa’s is a highly respected leader in health promotion and aging policy and will advise DAC on strategies to prepare international healthcare systems to address Alzheimer’s disease.
As Member and Vice Chair of the World Dementia Council, Dr. Kurokawa has been at the forefront of efforts to combat Alzheimer's disease with extensive contributions to Dementia research and public health policy. He served as a Commissioner of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chairman of the Investigative Committee on AI Simulation for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Countermeasures. Dr. Kurokawa is currently Chairman of the Health and Global Policy Institute, a Tokyo-based Think Tank.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Kurokawa said, "I am honored to join the Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative as Senior Advisor to the Board. DAC's leadership on global collaboration and equity in the fight against Alzheimer’s is essential to making progress.”
Dr. Kurokawa's appointment to DAC comes at a critical time for the organization and the field of Alzheimer's research. With the global population aging rapidly, Alzheimer’s and related Dementia’s is fast becoming the most pressing challenge for the world. In Japan, the population is aging faster than any other country in the world. The median age is 48.4 years, and by 2060, there will be roughly one elderly person for every working one. The Japanese government has made aging and dementia a priority, and in 2019, made it the theme of its G20 leadership. Dr. Kurokawa played a central role in preparing Japan for a massive demographic shift and has since been an international leader on addressing dementia and healthy aging.
“Dr. Kurokawa's extensive knowledge of the Japanese healthcare system and his leadership in global health policy make him an invaluable asset to DAC” said George Vradenburg, Founding Chairman of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative. “His insights will help us to advance DAC’s mission accelerating an effective and equitable global response to Alzheimer's disease.”
Dr. Kurokawa's appointment underscores DAC's commitment to bringing together the world's leading experts in Alzheimer's from academia, industry, government, and the nonprofit sector to foster collaboration and innovation to develop effective treatments to Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Kurokawa's expertise spans across specialties, organizations, and national boundaries. He received his MD in internal medicine and nephrology from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine and served as a professor of Internal Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. He was formerly appointed as special advisor to the Cabinet of Japanese government, He is professor emeritus at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), the University of Tokyo and the Tokai University and Chair and Representative Director of Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund). He serves as an executive member on many national and international professional societies and science policy organizations.
About the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative
Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 meeting on The Davos Agenda, The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to aligning stakeholders with a new vision for our collective global response against the challenges Alzheimer’s presents to patients, caregivers and healthcare infrastructures. Convened by The World Economic Forum and The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi) and fueled by a mission of service to the estimated 150 million families and half a billion people inevitably impacted by this disease by 2050, DAC is a collaborative for the benefit of all people, in all places.
