Neuroscience Ireland Conference 2025
Conference Speaker Profile
Dr. Alison Buick
Cumulus Neuroscience, Head of Global BD
Northern Ireland
Talk Title
CNS-101: A validation study of multimodal digital biomarkers for longitudinal at-home use in dementia patients
Talk Abstract
Digital tools such as the NeuLogiq® platform may be more sensitive to disease progression in clinical trials than current endpoints (e.g. ADAS-Cog), when used longitudinally at-home. The CNS-101 study was designed by a consortium of 10 pharmaceutical companies to test the feasibility and evidential power of the platform over the course of 1 year.
Seven UK sites recruited N = 59 dementia patients (clinical suspicion of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)) and N = 60 matched healthy controls. Daytime assessments were presented on a mobile tablet incorporating behavioural tasks (memory, executive function, affective processing and language), during which brain activity was measured via wearable EEG.
Recordings of overnight sleep duration were made using the Dreem sleep-EEG headband. Results demonstrated usability and feasibility of use, with high adherence to the protocol (70–80% across the duration of participation), strong correlations between digital and paper-and-pen benchmarks, and importantly, separation according to AD pathology (measured by ptau217 plasma status).
EEG biomarkers, including passive and task-based components, demonstrated morphology and group differences as expected based on the literature.
Speaker Biography
Alison Buick, Ph.D. is Head of Global Business Development at Cumulus Neuroscience, having previously directed clinical operations for the deployment of the NeuLogiq platform in clinical trials.
Prior to joining Cumulus in 2017, Alison’s academic research (Ph.D. and post-doctoral positions) in the UK, Ireland and Canada focused on neurophysiological interventions and medical devices for remote use in disease areas spanning CNS and oncology.
With her background leading multi-site clinical operations in both academia and industry roles, Alison’s current focus is building strategic partnerships with biopharma to drive adoption of innovative digital technologies for enrichment of clinical trials. The ultimate goal is to deliver faster, more effective healthcare outcomes for patients.