trialsitenews, Aug. 28, 2025, 12:30 p.m.
September is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a time to reflect on the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease and the urgent need for better treatments and care. More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, a number expected to climb steeply in the coming decades. As the need grows, so does the pressure on the clinical research ecosystem to deliver therapies faster, more efficiently, and more inclusively.
That’s where the Global Alzheimer’s Platform (GAP) Foundation comes in. GAP, a nonprofit organization led by President and CEO John Dwyer, was founded to speed the delivery of Alzheimer’s treatments with a commitment to lowering the cost of clinical trials, improving efficiency, and ensuring diversity in research so that no one is left behind. Today, GAP supports more than 100 clinical research sites worldwide through study start-up and recruitment support, with an emphasis on promoting participation from underrepresented communities and celebrating the citizen scientists who make research possible.
In this new episode of the TrialSite News Farrago Podcast, we speak with John Dwyer about GAP’s mission, the progress made to date, and the ambitious projects underway to transform the Alzheimer’s clinical trial ecosystem.
Here’s what we discuss in the interview:
- John Dwyer’s personal journey and what drew him to the Alzheimer’s field.
- How GAP’s mission has evolved in recent years with the addition of new partnerships and technologies.
- The scope and impact of GAP-Net, a network of 100+ trial sites designed to make Alzheimer’s trials faster and more inclusive.
- GAP’s work with Genentech to expand trial access for underrepresented communities.
- The launch of Mobile Research Units in Florida and on the West Coast, bringing brain health and trial access directly to neighborhoods.
- Why Bio-Hermes-001 was a landmark dataset and how Bio-Hermes-002 will go further by comparing blood-based and digital biomarkers with MRI and PET imaging.
- The role of public data challenges and open science in speeding discovery.
- How GAP balances the need for speed with scientific rigor and patient safety.
- The future of Alzheimer’s research infrastructure: what an ideal ecosystem might look like and how close GAP is to building it.
With September dedicated to raising awareness about Alzheimer’s, this timely conversation highlights the importance of rethinking how we approach clinical trials for neurodegenerative diseases.
Tune in to the interview and subscribe to the podcast here.