In May, Nature Medicine, in collaboration with the Volkswagen Foundation, hosted a unique symposium in Seeon, Germany aimed at identifying obstacles to translational research on neurodegeneration and to put forward possible ways to overcome such roadblocks.

The meeting stimulated a lot of debate, the essence of which is captured in a series of seven articles published today that run the gamut from mechanisms of disease, animal models, genetics, biomarkers, clinical trials and organizational issues.

Although these articles summarize the key points that came out of each scientific session, they are not intended to be the end of the discussion among the symposium participants and the community at large.

We therefore invite you to share your views on the obstacles and solutions discussed in these commentaries by sending them to hhs@us.nature.com. We will publish a selection of the comments we receive, together with the original commentaries, in the November issue of Nature Medicine.

Image: Thomas Deerinck, University of California, San Diego