The Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation® (GAP) kicks off its annual conference in Austin, Texas, bringing together the nation’s leading Alzheimer’s researchers, scientists and advocates”
WASHINGTON, DC (Feb. 20, 2023) — The Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP) will kick off its annual research conference Feb. 22–24 in Austin, Texas. The conference brings together leading Alzheimer’s scientists, advocates, and researchers from more than 100 independent and academic clinical research sites in North America that are part of the GAP Network and are committed to accelerating research and access to new treatments.
Special guests include: Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, director, Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience, UNLV; Dr. Diana Kerwin, Kerwin Medical Center–Dallas; Alison Searle, Roche neurodegeneration clinical operations disease area leader; Hampus Hillerstom, President and CEO, LuMind RDS Foundation; and Dr. Tony Falcon, El Faro Health & Therapeutics, Rio Grande City, Texas. GAP will also host Jim and Geri Taylor, founders of Alzheimer’s advocacy organization Voices of Alzheimer’s.
This year, the conference will highlight innovative strategies that increase diversity across the clinical trial space, including physician outreach, building site capacity, using digital biomarkers in clinical research, and improving clinical trial recruitment and retention.
The conference will also recognize GAP’s 2022 Citizen Scientist Award® honorees — people who make a difference through volunteerism in clinical research for neurodegenerative diseases. The awards are an extension of GAP’s mission to accelerate discovery of therapies or cures for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by encouraging participation in clinical research.
The GAP annual conference creates a space for professionals to share best practices, as well as collectively focus on emerging issues in the field. One panel will address disparities in research among people living with Down Syndrome, who — by the age of 65 — are overwhelmingly likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease; including them in research is vital to finding effective cures and therapies for all.
We are honored to convene this unique meeting as it draws leading Alzheimer’s researchers and scientists from across the globe to network, engage, and learn from each other,” said GAP President John Dwyer. “Every person attending this conference has the same goal — finding a treatment or cure for neurodegenerative diseases that work for everyone. By focusing on novel strategies for success, we aim to overcome obstacles that prevent access to care,” Dwyer added.
For more information about the Citizen Scientist Awards, visit: https://globalalzplatform.org/2022-honorees.
To learn about nearby clinical research studies for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, visit: https://globalalzplatform.org/home/.
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Contact: media@globalalzplatform.org
About the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP)
The nonprofit Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation was founded to speed the delivery of Alzheimer’s treatments with a commitment to promoting diversity in clinical research, as well as lowering the cost and duration of clinical trials to ensure that no one is left behind. As part of its mission, GAP supports more than 100 clinical research sites worldwide through study start up and recruitment activities, promoting diversity in research studies, and giving attention to the citizen scientists who make research possible.
About National Citizen Scientist Awards
The annual Citizen Scientist Awards (are one way that GAP recognizes the time, passion and dedication of the clinical trial participants who are helping to finding a new treatment, prevention or cure for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases through their volunteerism. In 2021, GAP expanded the Citizen Scientist Award nominees to include study partners and volunteers in Parkinson’s disease clinical trials.
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