GAP-Net site Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas was featured on FOX5 about Alzheimer’s clinical trial setbacks due to COVID-19, and how important minority communities are to research.
Click here to watch the full interview.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Dr. Aaron Ritter with the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health was very candid in how the pandemic has set them back in a number of ways and also how they hope to correct some wrongs on their part going forward.
Clinical trials, which are so key to the research, have been set back. Data is missing and trials were on hold, but they are beginning to get trials back on track and they are getting guidance from NIH on how to proceed.
Alzheimer patients and their families that need face-to-face meetings were also put on hold. Dr. Ritter talks about the challenge for them in social distancing and the need to wear a mask.
Dr. Ritter also talked about how trials in the past were focused 95% on caucasian people while people of color are at more risk of being afflicted by Alzheimer’s.
He called it a big failure on their part and are working to reach out to people of color for their latest trial but admits they’ll have to do some work to reduce mistrust in those communities.
Originally posted by FOX5 KVVU-TV on July 27, 2020.