Request For Proposals - Clinical Trial Recruitment Lab

Call for projects to pilot ideas that increase access to and reduce inequalities in Alzheimer’s clinical trials.

Overview of the Clinical Trial Recruitment Lab

The USC Clinical Trial Recruitment Lab (CTRL) is an interdisciplinary hub for piloting and evaluating innovative ideas with the potential to increase access to clinical trials and expand diversity in clinical trial populations. CTRL’s goal is to coordinate the resources and expertise necessary to conduct pilot projects that test novel trial recruitment strategies, disseminate findings and share best practices to speed the pace of drug development. CTRL brings together stakeholders from academia, industry and philanthropy to create a platform through which innovative ideas can be piloted and tested in the real world.

Successful solutions can be scaled up and findings are widely disseminated to promote improvements in multiple sectors. Pilot results are also used to inform policies that support wider implementation of best practices.

Key Dates

- Application period opens January 17, 2023
- Pre-proposal submission deadline March 17, 2023
- Full proposal deadline April 28, 2023
- Notification of awards May 2023

About the Opportunity

CTRL is seeking proposals for pilot projects that test strategies and solutions designed to address barriers to recruitment for Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials, with a special focus on enabling the recruitment of populations that have been underrepresented in clinical research. The successful proposed pilot will test concepts for accelerating recruitment that, if successful, can be scaled to various clinical and community settings. Each pilot project will use data-driven, evidence-based approaches to test and evaluate potential solutions and other interventions that may increase access to and reduce inequalities in Alzheimer’s clinical trials. Data, materials and findings will be broadly disseminated and, if successful, developed into effective interventions that can be deployed throughout the clinical trial environment. Pilot project teams will participate in an Annual Symposium dedicated to sharing ideas, findings and best practices. Each pilot project will be awarded up to $250,000.

Pilot projects could focus on any of the research areas highlighted by recent expert panel’s recommendations to address key recruitment challenges of Alzheimer’s clinical trials, including but not limited to:

• Increasing public awareness and outreach to engage diverse communities
• Scaling community-based practices and trial architecture to bring Alzheimer’s clinical trials to communities under-served by the current clinical trial ecosystem
• Broadening cognitive screening and early detection efforts in both asymptomatic adults and those showing early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
• Using digital engagement strategies and tools to retain candidates who fail screening or seek opportunities to screen for multiple clinical studies simultaneously
• Utilizing remote-assessment recruitment, including remote cognitive, clinical and plasma biomarker
  evaluations, to enlarge the pool of candidates for in-person enrollment at trial sites

Proposals in other research areas will also be considered, as long as they address barriers to recruitment of populations underrepresented in Alzheimer’s clinical trials.

Submit pre-proposal materials to Desi Peneva at ctrl@usc.edu. Only applicants who have submitted a successful pre-proposal may submit a full proposal.

For questions, contact Desi Peneva at ctrl@usc.edu.

Full details of the RFP can be found in the downloadable PDF.