Advisory council convenes to orient new members and map next decade of National Alzheimer's plan

The National Alzheimer's Project Act advisory council convened in 2026 to swear in a new group of non‑federal members and to review the advisory committee's role in shaping the national response to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Michelle Branham, the council chair, opened the meeting and urged members to move beyond planning toward actionable recommendations. She invited the new non‑federal cohort to introduce themselves and described the council's structure, including four subcommittees that align roughly with research, clinical care, long‑term services and supports, and risk reduction.

Maria Teresa Caffer, the council's designated federal officer, explained the council's public‑meeting obligations under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the council's role in advising both the HHS secretary and Congress. She said the council's recommendations have a direct route into the annual update of the national plan and that subcommittees do much of the detailed work between quarterly full‑council meetings.

The meeting included a briefing on NAPA's history and purpose. Council staff recounted that the law was enacted in 2011 to create an integrated national plan and an advisory council to review and comment on that plan. Officials said the plan is updated annually and now includes an explicit focus on risk reduction alongside research, clinical care, and long‑term services.

Speakers emphasized the council's dual role: (1) to make detailed, implementable recommendations aimed at federal programs and (2) to raise issues that may require statutory change and referral to Congress. Members were told that the council typically develops recommendations from January through July for presentation and adoption later in the year, feeding into the national plan released each fall.

Context and next steps: Council leaders flagged a 2025 national plan update held up in clearance but expected soon, and they invited members to engage in subcommittee meetings that will craft the council's formal recommendations. The chair closed the session with housekeeping about an ethics training and opportunities for additional Q&A with federal staff during the day's break.

The council will reconvene for follow‑up sessions and subcommittee work to translate the orientation and agency briefings into concrete recommendations for the 2026 national plan update.