WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Alzheimer's disease affects more than 5.4 million Americans and costs taxpayers at least $153 billion dollars per year in Medicare and Medicaid expenses alone. It is projected that 14 million people in the U.S. will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease by 2050. The Global Alzheimer's Platform (GAP) Foundation is implementing a new model designed to accelerate clinical trials and increase participation in research. Results of GAP's Kansas City initiative, the Memory Strings Kansas City Alliance, demonstrated a 292% growth in people contacting their local Alzheimer's disease research center. The Kansas City Alliance initiative also cut trial enrollment time in half. GAP's initiatives are targeted to reduce the cliWebsite - http://www.globalalzplatform.org/nical trial cycle times by up to two years, with the goal of speeding the delivery of lifesaving therapies to patients.

"The first person cured of Alzheimer's will be someone who participated in a clinical trial. The nation desperately needs a therapy for Alzheimer's. Significantly improving the clinical trials process is critical to implementing those therapies," commented John Dwyer, President of the Global Alzheimer's Platform Foundation. "We know that our methodology for expediting trials is working. We are attacking a major hurdle in bringing therapies to patients."

To accomplish its mission, the GAP Foundation is:

Establishing a state-of-the-art, online recruitment process for trial participants, covering individuals ranging from preclinical and pre-symptomatic conditions to mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease.
Expanding GAP-Net, an integrated platform of trial-ready, high-performing clinical trial sites, dedicated to shortening the duration of trials. The research network includes: Stanford University, University of California San Francisco, Compass Research, Raleigh Neurological Associates, University of Southern California, the Cleveland Clinic, Northwestern University, Emory University, Mayo Clinic, Washington University, Howard University and many more.
Of the 58 GAP-Net sites, 47 academic and private sites have agreed to share a single Institutional Review Board (IRB) creating the largest Alzheimer's disease research network under a single IRB in North America. This unprecedented achievement allows for speedier AD trial launches while simultaneously protecting the rights and safety of participants.
Establishing a customized recruitment process that connects potential trial participants to GAP-Net research centers. This includes extensive initiatives to increase community engagement, both live and online.

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