Clinical Trials Day 2025
Clinical Trials Day (May 20) celebrates the dedication and hard work of clinical research professionals. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to our colleagues, partners, and friends that work in this field and dedicate themselves to creating a brighter future to people with dementia and their care partners.
At the forefront of every therapeutic breakthrough, you’ll find clinical research professionals who are driven by a powerful purpose: advancing treatments that transform patients’ lives. And, together, their purpose is realized—study by study, patient by patient—in communities around the world.
For Clinical Trials Day 2025, ACRP honors the power and purpose of all clinical research professionals.
Dementia Caregiver Studies & Programs
CANDO Program
Are you noticing memory changes in someone you care about? Seeing a loved one struggle with memory loss can be overwhelming, but you can make a positive difference.
Participate in CAN-DO, a free online caregiver support program for dementia caregivers!
CAN-DO teaches essential skills to help you support a family member or friend with dementia. The program is offered free of cost. Emory University researchers are seeking your feedback on the program.
Gain skills in: managing finances, oganizing legal matters, navigating healthcare services, and more!
Learn more and sign up to join here.
Learning Skills Together Program
Are you providing care for someone living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia?
The Learning Skills Together online program aims to reduce caregiver stress and provides guidance on essential care tasks including managing medications, monitoring pain, assisting mobility challenges, and more. The program is offered free of cost. Case Western researchers are seeking your feedback on the program.
Learn more and enroll in Learning Skills Together here.
Smell Test – Brain Health Study
Now Enrolling: Smell Test Direct – The Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) Study.
Smell loss is linked to Parkinson’s disease (PD). The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is asking everyone age 40 and older with and without Parkinson’s in the United States and Canada to take a simple scratch-and-sniff test. This could help scientists learn more about risk of brain disease and develop new treatments.
The overall goal of PPMI is to identify markers of disease progression for use in clinical trials for new drug development to treat or even prevent PD before it begins.
The study is conducted online from anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. It take 1 hour to complete.
You may qualify if you:
- Are 40+ years old
- Are living in the U.S. or Canada
- With or without Parkinson’s disease
Click Here to Learn More
What’s Happening in the Alzheimer’s Field?
New Findings Into Alzheimer’s in Women
Women get AD more often than men. There are multiple theories that may explain why. These include that women tend to live longer, different hormones in women vs. men, genetics, and social factors. Learn more about the factors contributing to prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease women here.
A collection of studies published last month highlights studies on the interplay between hormones, chromosomes and dementia, including findings with implications for men as well as women. It also features essays arguing for the importance of studying sex differences throughout biomedical research. Learn more here.
A separate study finds faster tau accumulation in women compared to men. An international team of researchers, led by Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, has conducted a meta-analysis revealing that women with high β-amyloid (Aβ) exhibit significantly faster tau accumulation in key brain regions compared to men. Findings suggest that sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology may influence treatment efficacy, prompting a need for sex-specific therapeutic strategies. The paper is published in the journal JAMA Neurology. Learn more here.
Alzheimer’s-Linked Tau Protein Found to Accumulate in the Eye
An abnormal form of the tau protein found to accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients also accumulates in the eyes of patients with the condition, according to new findings from Cedars-Sinai researchers. The study was reported in the peer-reviewed journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications.
Physical Activity, Alzheimer Plasma Biomarkers, and Cognition
In a cross-sectional study of participants with and without cognitive impairment, higher levels of physical activity were significantly associated with lower levels of plasma neurofilament light chain and phosphorylated tau-217 and better cognition. These associations were more pronounced in the cognitively impaired group and the group aged 65 years and older compared with the cognitively unimpaired and younger groups. These findings suggest that physical activity might be linked to protection against neurodegeneration, AD pathology, and cognitive impairment.
| Interested in learning how RP makes connections between care communities and researchers? Email us today or schedule a 30 minute call to learn more. |