Menendez Calls for Renewed Energy to Defeat Alzheimer's and Focus on Diversity in Clinical Trials to Ensure All American Benefit from New Breakthroughs, Therapies

Press Release

During an Alzheimer's hearing today in the Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez questioned top research scientists on progress being made in defeating the disease and called for a focus on addressing the lack of minority participation in clinical trials. Older Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's and older black Americans are twice as likely.

Praising the tremendous innovations made in the last several months to find therapies and create a COVID-19 vaccine, Sen. Menendez said that "[I]f, as a nation, we can innovate at such a rapid speed to defeat COVID-19, we can also put that same energy into defeating Alzheimer's disease."

"Even the most revolutionary new medicines are ultimately worthless if they do not reach the people that need them," he continued, before questioning Maria Carrillo, Chief Science Officer of the Alzheimer's Association, and others, on the urgent need to improve diversity in Alzheimer's clinical trials.

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