Medical Innovation

Medical Innovation

Americans today are benefiting from medical developments and discoveries that took shape almost two decades ago. On average, the travel time of an experimental drug from the lab to patients is 12 to15 years. Lawmakers need to realize the considerable impact that federal policies can have on maintaining the future of drug discovery and innovation.

All Americans, especially the aging, want the best therapies for life-threatening diseases and disabling and chronic conditions. A core goal of the Alliance for Aging Research is to encourage policies which will lead to newer and better treatments to improve the health and independence of Americans as they age.

Related Publications

    • Alliance in the News
      Cynthia Bens Featured For Patient Advocacy Work
      January 25, 2012 | Roxanne Yaghoubi
      Related topics: Medical Innovation  Policy  Quality of Care  Research  

      This week, the Coalition for Imaging & Bioengineering Research (CIBR) ran a story in their Patient Advocate Group (PAG) Spotlight newsletter, titled "Patient Advocate Leader Cynthia Bens Attends RSNA 2011 as Guest of the Coalition for Inaging & Bioengineering Research (CIBR)."


      In it, Ms. Bens, the Director of Public Policy for the Alliance for Aging Research writes about her experience representing the Alliance for Aging Research and CIBR at the Annual Meeting of the       Radiological Society of North America.

      Ms. Bens described the event as a, "...fantastic and rare opportunity to get the kind of hands-on feel for imaging technology that patients are rarely afforded," and that she hopes, "...other advocates will be able to attend the conference and learn about the increasingly important role imaging technology plays in the lives of patients that they represent."

      To view the full article, click       here.

       

    • Podcast
      CER Interview with Dr. James Goodwin (UK)
      January 24, 2012
      Related topics: Aging Research  Drug Development  Drug Safety  Health  Medical Innovation  Policy  Research  Vision Loss  

      James Goodwin, PhD, is the Head of Research in Age UK, the new organization which resulted from the merger of Age Concern England and Help the Aged. The mission of Age UK is to improve the lives of older people.

      He holds a visiting professorship at Loughborough University in the Department of Human Sciences. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal ‘Quality in Aging’ in the UK. He sits on numerous expert bodies, including the UN Research Agenda for Aging panel, the UN Digital Health Group, a WHO Advisory Group, scientific advisory panels of the research councils and is Chair of the Halcyon Knowledge Transfer Steering Committee at UCL. He is a member of a Ministerial Advisory Group on Dementia Research for the UK Government.

      Professor Goodwin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Keele University, UK. After graduation he read for a Master’s in Human Physiology at Loughborough University and then for a PhD in climatic physiology at the Postgraduate Medical School, University of Exeter. His research area was the effects of temperature variations on the autonomic cardiovascular responses of older people, an area highly relevant to the issue of climate change and older people’s health. His other area of expertise is knowledge transfer, sitting on the advisory Board of KT-EQUAL, as a panel member of the LLHW Program and as an adviser to Imperial College on their age-related research in the Faculty of Engineering.

      "      It is my personal opinion that the decisions I see made by NICE, would be met with stupefaction by people in the United States."


    • Podcast
      CER Interview with Barbara McLaughlan
      January 6, 2012
      Related topics: Aging Research  Drug Development  Drug Safety  Medical Innovation  Policy  Research  Vision Loss  

      Barbara McLaughlan is the Policy & Campaigns Manager at the Royal National Institute of Blind People(RNIB). At RNIB, McLaughlan has played a major role in the successful campaign to ensure that patients with wet age-related macular degeneration are given treatment with new anti-VEGF treatments on the NHS. Access to treatment remains a major focus of her work as well as running several eye health promotion projects. Ms. McLaughlan is also the Chair of Patients involved in NICE (PIN), an independent group made up of patient and voluntary organizations that work closely with NICE.

      "From a patient’s perspective, if I were the patient I would always say ‘I want the licensed treatment because that’s gone through all the trials and I can be absolutely sure about what I’m getting, plus there is monitoring of outcomes and possible adverse events following licensing and use in clinical practice.”



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