Dementia Trials Accelerator aims to increase research participants
A new Dementia Trials Accelerator (DTA) has been launched to increase the number of people in the UK participating in late-stage clinical trials who are at risk of, or diagnosed with, early-stage dementia.
It is hoped the DTA, which is backed by £20m of government funding, will increase the number of dementia trial participants to ‘tens of thousands’, with trial locations extended to community settings to make participation more accessible.
The Accelerator is a collaboration between the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), and funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC). It is supported by the government’s Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme (formerly known as the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission).
The Accelerator aims to position the UK as the destination of choice for commercial investment and innovation in the delivery of new therapies for dementia by addressing many of the barriers to commercial clinical trial delivery identified by Lord O’Shaughnessy in the Independent Review of commercial clinical trials in the UK
Professor Andrew Morris, Director of Health Data Research UK, says:
“Today’s research is tomorrow’s care. By harnessing cutting-edge technology and the power of health data, the Dementia Trials Accelerator will unite industry, academic and clinical expertise from around the UK to significantly boost our ability to run efficient, large-scale trials, giving more people quicker access to potentially life-changing treatments.”
The Dementia Trials Accelerator is still in development and is not yet recruiting participants. For updates, please visit www.ukdri.ac.uk/dementia-trials-accelerator.