Let’s Get Loud
To quote Jennifer Lopez ,“C’mon people, let’s get loud!” Hang up your lab coat, leave your pad folios and ipads behind, and dust off your protest sign, it’s time to make some noise for medical research!
Scratching your head over CER implementation...
you are not alone! Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is a tool that can have a significant effect on those receiving health care, particularly older Americans. When used correctly, CER can help ensure that seniors facing illnesses receive the best care for their condition. However, many open questions remain around this critical issue.
This week the Alliance for Aging Research and the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) released a new white paper titled Translating Innovation to Impact: Evidence-based interventions to support people with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers at home and in their communities. The white paper was written by Katie Maslow, MSW, Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute of Medicine, but the findings in the paper are the result of a review of the state of the art of non-pharmacological treatments and care practices that began with a public-private meeting on June 28, 2012.
Heterogeneity or Just Plain ol’ Differences?
The Alliance for Aging Research was pleased to be a co-sponsor of the National Pharmaceutical Council’s Myth of the Average Patient Conference in Washington, D.C. I had the opportunity to attend the event and share my thoughts on why the topic of heterogeneity among patients is important to consider when conducting comparative effectiveness research.
A Grand Challenge in Need of a Grand Solution
The President announced plans late last year to create a National Bioeconomy Blueprint. This Blueprint would detail government-wide steps “to harness biological research innovations to address national challenges in health, food, energy, and the environment.” The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy recently solicited comments to inform the Blueprint.
Responding to the Aging of the Population
A group of aging and Alzheimer’s advocates will be meeting this week with the senior leadership of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to call for an increase in funding for the National Institute on Aging (NIA). In advance of this meeting, the group has orchestrated a sign-on letter to demonstrate widespread support for $1.4 billion, an increase of $300 million, in the FY 2013 NIH Budget to support the NIA. A similar letter was generated last year and garnered more than 400 signatures.
Are we there yet?
Many of you may still have this phrase ringing in your ears if you traveled with children for any length of time this past holiday season. Representatives from the ACT-AD Coalition, chaired by the Alliance for Aging Research, heard these same words almost two years ago, not uttered from the mouths of babes, but rather by prominent officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a conversation regarding evidence to support the use of biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease in clinical trials for “disease-modifying” therapies.
Drumroll please…
And the winner is…medical research? Just in time to avert a government shutdown, Congress passed a $1 trillion spending package on Friday. This bill will fund all of the government agencies through the end of the current fiscal year.
