GAP-Net Site Clarity Clinical Research talks about their participation in GAP’s Bio-Hermes Study.
Syracuse, N.Y. — A Syracuse research clinic is seeking volunteers for a brain scan that may help predict or diagnose Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear.
Clarity Clinical Research is one of 10 clinics nationwide offering no cost Amyloid PET scans as part of a new research study.
Brain amyloid plaques are sticky clumps of protein that build up around brain nerve cells and disrupt healthy brain activity. Clarity says the best way to determine if you have amyloid in your brain is with a brain amyloid Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.
The scans are usually expensive and not covered by health insurance, but will be free for anyone who qualifies as a study volunteer, said Lisa Sonneborn, site director of the Syracuse clinic.
Only 1,000 people will be able to participate nationwide. Clarity Clinical Research has been selected as one of the first sites in the U.S. to enroll patients. The study will accept volunteers on a first come, first serve basis.
The clinic is seeking volunteers ages 60 to 85, with or without memory concerns, who have someone who can participate with them as a study partner.
The study requires research sites to have at least 20% of participants from a minority group.
“African Americans are about twice as likely as whites to develop Alzheimer’s disease, and Hispanics are about one-and-a-half times as likely,” Sonneborn said in a news release. “However, these high-risk populations are underrepresented in clinical studies.”
Participants in the study are required to make two visits with staff at Clarity, one visit to a local imaging site and be available for a follow-up phone call.
For more information, visit www.clarityclinicalresearch.com or call 315-760-5905.
Originally posted on Syracuse.com on April 22, 2021.