INDRC Appoints Lenka Uldrijanová as Executive Director and Announces Two Peer-Reviewed Scientific Publications

INDRC Pioneers Combination of Biological Sciences and Medicine with Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Identify Therapeutic Interventions for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders

Executive Director Appointment to Further Advance High-Impact Research Projects and Build Rapidly Growing Community of Scientists, Partners, and Investors

New INDRC Publications Outline Path to Accelerating Identification of Treatments for Neurodegenerative Disorders by Merging and Advancing Dispersed Knowledge in Science and Applying Information Technology Solutions

Near-Term Project to Develop AI/ML-Derived Algorithms to Detect Unrecognized Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Community Healthcare Systems

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, September 5, 2023 — International Neurodegenerative Disorders Research Center, (INDRC), a private, non-profit, global research institute applying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions to study function and information processing of healthy and diseased human brain to identify therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders, today announced the appointment of Ms. Lenka Uldrijanová as its new Executive Director and the release of two peer-reviewed scientific publications:

  1. Khachaturian A, et al: “Accelerating Innovations for Enhanced Brain Health. Can Artificial Intelligence Advance New Pathways for Drug Discovery for Alzheimer’s and other Neurodegenerative Disorders?” published in the Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease
  2. Kaliszyk C, et al: “Combining Higher-Order Logic with Set Theory Formalizations” published in the Journal of Automated Reasoning

“Since founding the INDRC institute two years ago, we have made considerable progress on our mission to improve the understanding of the biology driving neurodegeneration and develop new interventions to prevent and treat neurodegenerative disorders. The search for effective treatments for patients remains painfully slow due to the lack of understanding of the complex interrelationship between brain structure and brain function, as well as limited knowledge of the precise pathogenic pathways that impair or destroy neurons and their connections,” said Martin Tolar, MD, PhD, Founder and Chairman of INDRC Executive Board, and Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Alzheon, Inc. “INDRC is the first organization of its kind to combine biological sciences and medicine with big data and artificial intelligence approaches to study function and information processing of human brain. Our global community of the world’s leading experts in neuroscience, clinical research, mathematics, bioinformatics, AI, and computer science are together making fundamental advances to bridge the informational gap and build computational models to identify therapeutic interventions for these devastating diseases.”

The INDRC Institute convened a world-class Scientific Advisory Board to identify the following critical roadblocks in finding effective treatments:

  • Inadequate understanding of complex interrelationship between brain structure and brain function
  • Limited knowledge of precise pathogenic pathways that impair or destroy neurons and their connections
  • Lack of application of AI and ML solutions to study function and information processing of healthy and diseased human brain
  • Ineffective collaboration frameworks between leading experts in neuroscience, clinical research, mathematics, biophysics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, AI, and computer science

Ms. Uldrijanová brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in customer care, and non-profit sectors to INDRC. Prior to joining INDRC, she led the Czech non-profit organization Liga vozíčkářů, which comprises nearly 100 employees dedicated to helping people with disabilities. She created effective strategies to maximize donations, identified and explored donor pools with a focus on creating long-term collaborations, and built alliances with other nonprofits. She also helped create a podcast series providing the public with insight into the perspectives of people living with disabilities, as well as organized sporting and cultural events for people with disabilities and their families.

Previously, Ms. Uldrijanová served as the General Manager of the Regus office in Brno, Czech Republic, a British company that operates in more than 120 countries and provides back-office services to companies of all sizes. Ms. Uldrijanová is a member of the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Brno, a leading business association in the Czech Republic. Ms. Uldrijanová graduated in 1998 with a master’s degree in history from the Faculty of Sciences of Masaryk University in Brno.

“I am excited to assume operational leadership of such a high-impact global institute, especially during these exciting times when the clinical and biological understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration is rapidly evolving,” said Ms. Uldrijanová. “The integration of fast-paced information technology into neurosciences will accelerate development of novel therapeutic solutions at INDRC, and I invite Alzheimer’s and data-driven communities to reach out to us with projects, ideas, and solutions as we continue our journey.”

The INDRC Institute includes partners from the European Union, North America, and around the world, including leading universities, research institutes, clinical centers, as well as for-profit and non-profit companies. In September 2022, the Institute organized its first conference, INDRC Conference 2022: “Artificial Intelligence Solutions for Understanding and Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders.”, which examined current theories and knowledge of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration and set the following scientific and engineering goals for the Institute:

  1. Establish novel modelling framework to examine current theories and knowledge of Alzheimer’s and neurodegeneration
  2. Institute common ontology to identify crucial aspects that provide linkages and interfaces between various sub-systems within complete brain architecture
  3. Create both an inventory of information about theories and a comprehensive knowledge management platform
  4. Construct high-performance AI/ML model platform – “Modelbase” – to explore and integrate currently available conceptual knowledge and experimental data
  5. Develop new methods, models, and algorithms to enable exploration of complex non-linear dynamics between biology, environment, disease, and public health

“A key obstacle to the development of new therapies is the lack of understanding of the complex non-linear relationships between the clinical features of a given brain disorder and the underlying neurobiological mechanism,” said Ara Khachaturian, PhD, Chair of INDRC Scientific Advisory Board, and Executive Vice President of Campaign to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. “At present, neuroscience research communities do not have easy access to data and interpretation tools, which typically reside within advanced, high-performance computing laboratories and often require highly qualified programmers, engineers, and computer scientists to analyze the data and use the tools. These disciplines are rarely associated with biomedical research focused on brain disorders, and researchers do not currently possess adequate conceptual models of brain diseases, the requisite research mapping tools, or the knowledge visualization systems to efficiently investigate new and promising interventions that connect the complex origins of brain disorders with respective clinical symptoms,” Dr. Khachaturian stressed. “Given the recent challenges of clinical trials to demonstrate effective options to modify the clinical course of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, INDRC’s research priority is to slow the progression and delay the onset of disabling symptoms, so that people living with dementia and other chronic brain disorders can maintain their independence.”

About INDRC

The INDRC, International Neurodegenerative Disorders Research Center, is a private, non-profit, global research institute based in Prague, Czech Republic, that for the first time combines biological sciences and medicine with big data and artificial intelligence approaches to study and treat Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.1 The INDRC goal is to merge and advance the globally dispersed knowledge in brain systems and neurodegeneration through research training fellowship programs of excellence, delivering outstanding independent research programs, building a world-class Scientific Advisory Board and research community, and enabling technological and therapeutic innovations with genuine impact on society and humanity.1 INDRC is interdisciplinary by design, addressing research bottlenecks and developing new analytical approaches to discover and model the non-linear dynamics between biology, disease, man, and environment.2 The Institute uses a transparent governance model that includes committed international partners from European Union, North America and around the world, including universities, research institutes, clinical centers, and for-profit/non-profit companies. INDRC projects apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to address the challenges facing the identification and validation of new therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer´s and other neurodegenerative disorders to advance therapies with the greatest impact for patients.

INDRC Scientific Publications 

1 Khachaturian A, et al: Accelerating Innovations for Enhanced Brain Health. Can Artificial Intelligence Advance New Pathways for Drug Discovery for Alzheimer’s and other Neurodegenerative Disorders?, The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2023; 10, 1-4.

2 Kaliszyk C, et al: Combining Higher-Order Logic with Set Theory Formalizations, The Journal of Automated Reasoning, 2023; 67, 20. 

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