Featured Studies

Participating in research can bring new ways to help families today, and build hope for a future without this disease. You may choose to find out more about the following featured studies:

Analysis of Language and Speech in Patients with Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)

Winterlight Labs, a technology company, and Alector, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco, are partnering to conduct a speech assessment study in persons diagnosed with behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) or primary progressive aphasia (PPA). The purpose of the study is to evaluate whether an in-home speech assessment that uses an iPad application can detect changes in how the brain processes information in FTD. By analyzing how you speak, Winterlight Labs and Alector may be able to detect changes in brain information processing that cannot be detected with other tests.

You may be eligible to participate in this study if:

You are between the ages of 45 and 90
You have been diagnosed with bvFTD or PPA within the past 12 months
You have a relative or caregiver who can administer the assessments

Winterlight will send study participants an iPad in the mail. Over a 12-month period, participants will complete a series of six short assessments on the iPad using the Winterlight app. Each assessment should take about 15 minutes to complete. At the end of the study, participants will be able to keep the iPad.

Additional information from AFTD:

Persons diagnosed with bvFTD or PPA may be eligible to participate in this 12-month study, which will use an iPad app to evaluate speech patterns that may reflect FTD-related changes in the brain. Participants will complete six assessments on an iPad supplied by Winterlight Labs, which they will be able to keep at the end of the study. The first three assessments will occur one month apart and the remaining three assessments will occur three months apart (i.e., 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months after beginning the study). No travel is involved – all of the assessments will be done at home, using the Winterlight app. Each assessment will take about 15 minutes to complete.

Participants must have a family member or caregiver who can guide them through the assessments. There is no cost to participate in this study and it does not involve any medical treatments or procedures.

Click here for more information. If you are interested in participating in this study, you can contact Winterlight Labs by calling toll-free to 1-833-WINLABS (1-833-946-5227) or via email: research@winterlightlabs.com.

IN FRONT

Phase 1 clinical trial for AL001 — A first in human study in healthy volunteers and in participants with Frontotemporal Dementia with Granulin mutation

A clinical trial, sponsored by Alector, Inc. is now recruiting healthy volunteers, volunteers who are progranulin gene mutation carriers but do not have FTD symptoms and volunteers who have been diagnosed with FTD. Alector has developed a new monoclonal antibody therapy, which is a type of immunotherapy. In this case, a specific antibody has been developed that can bind to cells or proteins and encourage the patient’s own cells to increase progranulin back to normal levels and hopefully slow or stop progression of the disease.

The purpose of this Phase 1 clinical trial is to test the safety and tolerability (possible side effects) of this new therapy in healthy volunteers, progranulin gene mutation carriers but do not have FTD symptoms and persons diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia due to the progranulin gene mutation.

You may be eligible to participate if:

You are a progranulin gene mutation carrier and have no symptoms and not yet been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia
You are diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia with the progranulin gene mutation
If you have FTD symptoms, a knowledgeable caregiver is required to accompany the participant
You are between the ages of 18 and 65

For participants who are gene mutation carriers, but do not have FTD symptoms:

The study will only last 5 months, including 14 visits and 1 overnight visit (drug will be delivered by intravenous infusion at the clinical site and each volunteer participant will only have one overnight stay, the day of the infusion)
Three lumbar punctures, plus blood draws and ECG will be required over the course of the study
Travel will be reimbursed as approved by the site’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). For asymptomatic carriers, there may be additional compensation for their time in addition to travel

For participants who are gene mutation carriers, and have symptoms of FTD:

The study will last 6 months, including 13 visits and 1 overnight visit ((drug will be delivered by intravenous infusion at the clinical site and each volunteer participant will only have one overnight stay, the day of the infusion)
Two lumbar punctures, plus blood draws and ECG, will be required over the course of the study
Travel will be reimbursed for the person diagnosed and their caregiver, as approved by the local site IRB

The lead investigator for the study is Bradley Boeve, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN.

For more information, please contact the investigator site closest to your location. The list of participating centers can be found here.

TANGLES

The TANGLES research study is being conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The purpose of this study is to examine how the tau protein is made, transported and cleared in the human body. Tau forms tangles in the brain found in several neurological conditions.

Understanding of these processes is important in designing treatments and diagnostic tools to target this protein.

You may be eligible to participate if you are:

Diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), or have a family history of FTD with the MAPT gene mutation
Not taking anticoagulant medications
Are at least 18 years old
Able to take food and drink by mouth safely

Study participation lasts for 4 months and includes:

6 study visits (including 1 overnight visit)
Intravenous (IV) infusion and blood draws
Lumbar punctures (spinal taps)

Participants will be reimbursed up to $1200 for time and effort and travel expenses will be covered for the participant and family member.

Additional information from AFTD:
Each participant, accompanied by a care partner, will make six visits to the study site (Washington University in St. Louis) over the four-month study period. The first visit will require an overnight stay and will involve an intravenous infusion and blood draws. During each of the five subsequent visits, participants will undergo a lumbar puncture and have blood drawn.

Travel expenses for all visits, including flights, hotels, and ground transportation, will be covered for both the participant and care partner. The study team can assist participants with travel arrangements or transport needs such as wheelchairs.

Contact: Melody Li | 314-273-6062, slia@wustl.edu

Language in Primary Progressive Aphasia

The Language in Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) study aims to understand the behavioral, anatomical and physiological changes in people with PPA throughout the course of the illness. The researchers in this study want to increase awareness of PPA, educate others about this unique disorder, and to encourage more research to eventually develop therapies.

During the three-day research program, participants will be asked to undergo neuropsychological testing (paper and pencil tests that evaluate cognition), advanced imaging (MRI and PET), eyetracking experiments, and other computer and language testing batteries. Participants may be asked to return every two years to complete the same measures.

For participants not living near Chicago, IL, flights and accommodations (for both the person with PPA and their companion) will be covered by the study.

Additional information from AFTD:
During this three-day research program, participants will be asked to undergo neuropsychological testing (paper and pencil tests that evaluate cognition), an MRI (a non-invasive brain-imaging procedure), eyetracking experiments and other computer and language testing batteries. Participants may be asked to return every two years to complete the same measures.

The study will recruit approximately 15 participants with PPA per year. For participants not living near Chicago, IL, flights and accommodations (for both the person with PPA and their companion) will be covered by the study.

Contact: Christina Coventry, MS, RN | 312-908-9681, christina.coventry@northwestern.edu

Communication Bridge: A Person-Centered Internet-Based Intervention for Individuals With Primary Progressive Aphasia

The Communication Bridge study is an internet-based, speech therapy intervention for individuals with Primary Progressive Aphasia and their Communication Partner. A Communication Partner can be a spouse, relative, or close friend that will participate in the study along with the individual with PPA. The goal of the study is to understand how speech-language therapy affects communication abilities in people living with PPA. All study visits take place over the Internet in your home. We will provide you with a computer for the length of the study. We will connect through a video-chat program on the computer. The study lasts about one year. You will complete 5 evaluations with a licensed speech-language therapist, 15 one-hour speech therapy sessions with a licensed speech-language therapist, and home exercises on the computer we provide you. This study accepts persons all over the country, but they do have to be in the mild impairment stage of PPA, have a communication partner willing to participate, and sufficient internet connection.

Additional information from AFTD:
Participants with a diagnosis of PPA and their actively engaged care partners will be involved in the study for 12 months. There are no costs to participate in this study and compensation will be provided.

Contact: Libby Rogers, M.A. | 312-503-4012, libbyrogers@northwestern.edu
Contact: Emily Rogalski, Ph.D. | 312-503-1155, e-rogalski@northwestern.edu

Learn more at clinicaltrials.gov.

FORWARD Study

There is much to learn about Frontotemporal Dementia, especially when it comes to finding the best way to measure its symptoms and impact on individuals’ everyday lives.

If you have Frontotemporal Dementia, you may want to consider the FORWARD study.

What is the purpose of the FORWARD study?

This is an observational study designed to learn more about FTD and to find answers to important questions, such as “how do symptoms change over time?” Eligible participants will work with study staff over the course of a year to answer questions about their daily functioning, as well as participate in cognitive assessments.

Who can participate?

You may be eligible to participate in the FORWARD study if you:

Are 18 to 80 years old
Have been diagnosed with Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD)
Other criteria may apply

To find out if you may be eligible to participate, please contact one of the currently recruiting investigative sites near you listed below. Additional information can be found on clinicaltrials.gov by navigating to this page: clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03088956

Site #	PI Name	Site	City	Postal Code	Site Contact	Site Contact Email	Site Contact Phone #
103	Grossman, Murray	Penn Memory Center	Philadelphia, PA	19104	Courtney Igne	Email	215-662-3596
104	Roberson, Erik	University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham, AL	35233	Emily McKinley	Email	205-996-3659
105	Domoto-Reilly, Kimiko	University of Washington School of Medicine	Seattle, WA	98195-6424	Christina Caso	Email	206-221-9038
106	Mendez, Mario	UCLA	Los Angeles, CA	90095	Diana Chavez	Email	310-478-3711, Ext: 48176
107	Galvin, James	Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, FL	33431	Marcia Walker	Email	561-297-4984
108	Hales, Chadwick	Emory University School of Medicine	Atlanta, GA	30322	Attis, Tamara	Email	404-712-6914
113	Crane, Monica	Genesis Neuroscience Clinic	Knoxville, TN	37909	Jackson, Jerica	Email	865-888-9494

Other recent studies of note

Low-Dose Lithium for the Treatment of Behavioral Symptoms of FTD

A study sponsored by Columbia University in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation is seeking persons diagnosed with behavioral variant FTD, semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (PPA), or agrammatic, non-fluent PPA with behavioral symptoms, for a study to test the use of a drug to treat behavioral symptoms in FTD. The study, which will run over approximately 12 weeks, is recruiting volunteer participants at the Irving Institute at Columbia University Medical Center. A care partner (family member) will be required to provide information about the patient during interviews. The study will cover transportation costs as well as an additional stipend per participant. For more information, contact Hannah Silverman at: hs2971@cumc.columbia.edu or by calling 212-305-6284.

Clinical trials and studies aren’t the only way to participate in research! You may also wish to consider:

The FTD Disorders Registry features ways to participate in research, to spur innovation that will lead to effective treatments and therapies.
ARTFL –Advancing Research and Treatment of Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ARTFL) is a natural-history study of FTD, open to anyone with an FTD disorder. ARTFL is funded by the NIH and is part of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.
LEFFTDS – The Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Subjects (LEFFTDS) conducts longitudinal studies of individuals who have mutations in the three genes most commonly affected in FTD: MAPT, GRN, or C9orf72. A primary goal of LEFFTDS is to identify the most robust and reliable methods to track disease progression in familial FTD so that disease-modifying therapeutic trials can be designed appropriately.

PLEASE NOTE: AFTD is under no obligation to publicize any study, and may turn down such a request at any time. AFTD at no time “endorses” or “approves” any study, whether or not it chooses to publicize it.