The Vanderbilt Center for Cognitive Medicine (VCCM) has been named an Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) Member Site. It joins 34 member sites across the country that conduct high-integrity clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias with an emphasis on enrolling participants who have been underrepresented in research.
The ACTC award provides infrastructure support to further develop VCCM’s Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials and expand opportunities for patients with memory disorders to participate in and receive groundbreaking investigational treatment.
“This award recognizes and reinforces the importance of the work we are doing to conduct Alzheimer’s disease research with a particular focus on including minoritized groups that have historically not participated in these studies,” said Paul Newhouse, MD, the Jim Turner Professor of Cognitive Disorders and director of the VCCM. “We know historically these groups have been excluded from Alzheimer’s disease research, yet they are more likely to suffer from dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.”
Site principal investigators Newhouse and Patricia Andrews, MD, associate director of the Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials program, will serve on the ACTC Steering Committee, and site staff, including site liaison Amy Boegel, PhD, and site community engagement specialist Blake Wilson, will be supported by and have access to ACTC’s resources and network.
“Our goal is to bring the work we do from the academic institution to the clinic and to community settings,” Newhouse said. “The ACTC award will help us advance treatment in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias for all Tennesseans.”