Innovative Neuroscience Research
Alberta Roche Collaboration in Health
The 2021 Alberta Roche Collaboration in Health (ARCH) is focused on projects from basic science to clinic research in the area of neuroscience, with an attention to fostering and accelerating health innovation in Alberta.
Through the Alberta Roche Collaboration in Health, the University Hospital Foundation (UHF) and Roche Canada aim to support health innovation research projects that can provide further insight into challenges faced by patients and caregivers in the area of neuroscience, primarily focused in three areas:
Diagnosis
Understanding how neurological diagnoses are being conducted across Alberta
Definition
Determining how neurological diseases are being defined across Alberta in comparison to guidelines and clinical trials
Development
Gaining insight into the patient care pathway from diagnosis to care, and the transition from primary to acute care
Alberta Roche Collaboration in Health (ARCH) Projects
Project Name: Alzheimer’s Disease in Alberta: Understanding the Current State and Readiness for Disease Modifying Therapies
Project PI: Dr. Dallas Seitz, Geriatric Psychiatrist and Health Services Researcher; Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Community Health Sciences in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary
Timeline: February 2023 – June 2024
Research on treatments that may impact the underlying disease course of Alzheimer’s disease are nearing the phase where they may be approved for use in Canada. Understanding how physicians and other health care providers currently assess and manage dementia is important to prepare our health system for these new treatments. Overall, this project will describe the current state of people impacted by Alzheimer’s disease in Alberta and identify strategies that may be used to help implement new treatments for dementia.
Project Name: Neurofilament light (NfL) as a Biomarker to Evaluate Disease Course in Multiple Sclerosis
Project PI: Dr. Fabrizio Giuliani, Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta; Neurologist and Medical Director of the Multidisciplinary Northern Alberta Multiple Sclerosis Clinic in the Kaye Edmonton Clinic
Timeline: August 2021 – December 2026
This partnership was established between Roche Canada, University Hospital Foundation and the University of Alberta. Close to 20 immunotherapies are available for patients with relapsing-remitting and progressive multiple sclerosis. There is no biomarker to identify the best treatment for the individual patient. This study will use NfL to monitor disease activity in patients on treatment with a disease modifying therapy (DMT) to identify patients who are potentially not responding to DMT or identify patients who could potentially relapse.
Project Name: Advancing Multiple Sclerosis Research In Alberta (AIMS)
Project Primary Investigator: Dr. Lawrence Richer, Pediatric Neurologist; Department of Pediatrics Professor, University of Alberta; Vice-Dean Clinical Research in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and Center Director of the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Center
Timeline: May 2020 – November 2021
This partnership was established between Roche Canada, University Hospital Foundation and the Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre. This study utilized province-wide administrative data to estimate the annual multiple sclerosis (MS) incidence and prevalence rates over time, describe the characteristics of a contemporaneous group of individuals living with MS, and better understand disease modifying treatment patterns and health care resource utilization.
Alzheimer’s disease afflicts 75,000 Albertans and over 700,000 Canadians
More than 65% of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease are women over the age of 65
The estimated cost of Alzheimer’s disease in Canada is over $12 billion to Canadians