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Review
. 2025 Jan;21(1):e14248.
doi: 10.1002/alz.14248. Epub 2024 Dec 22.

ADNI Private Partners Scientific Board (PPSB) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Working Group: A new collaboration that crosses boundaries for industry, academia, and under-represented patients

Ruth Croney  1 , Emil Fristed  2 , Donna Masterman  3 , Martine Meyer  4 , Pallavi Sachdev  5 , Aparna Vasanthakumar  6 , Christopher J Weber  7 , Theresa Devins  8
Affiliations
Review

ADNI Private Partners Scientific Board (PPSB) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Working Group: A new collaboration that crosses boundaries for industry, academia, and under-represented patients

Ruth Croney et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Private Partners Scientific Board (PPSB) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group (DE&I WG) was established to work with the ADNI3 Diversity Task Force to provide an industry perspective on increasing the representation of diverse participants in ADNI3 and to build precompetitive cross-industry knowledge in engagement and recruitment of under-represented participants (URPs). In this article, we review and highlight the role and ongoing activities within the ADNI PPSB DE&I WG and provide a cross-industry perspective on areas where precompetitive collaboration can improve the inclusiveness in clinical trials, drawing on examples from ADNI4. HIGHLIGHTS: New collaboration crosses boundaries to allow PPSB DE&I WG members to work together in a preproprietary way. When faced with the same challenges required by FDA combined with a growing prevalence of AD, the DE&I WG has drafted a range of initiatives that may benefit ADNI, AD patients, care partners, and respective companies involved in this work. In order to address the multifactorial problem of successfully enrolling representative populations in clinical trials, it will "take a village" to bring about sustainable changes.

Keywords: Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Alzheimer's disease clinical trials; DEI; cultural diversity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Christopher J. Weber is a full time employee of the Alzheimer's Association; Theresa Devins holds stock/stock options with Cognition Therapeutics; Aparna Vasanthakumar is a full time employee of AbbVie and holds stock in the company; Donna Masterman is an employee of Prothena Biosciences which is an ADNI PPSB corporate member and corporate sponsor; Pallavi Sachdev is a full time employee of Eisai, Inc.; Ruth Croney is a full time employee of Roche Products Ltd and owns stock with the company; Emil Fristed is a full time employee, shareholder, and director on the board of Novoic. Martine Meyer is a full‐time employee of J&J Innovative Medicine. Author disclosures are available in the supporting information.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Distribution of populations with Alzheimer's and related dementias in age categories 65–74, 75–84, and 85+ years.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
ADNI Cores and PPSB workgroups. ADNI, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; PPSB, Private Partners Scientific Board.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Historical timeline of key regulations toward increasing diversity in clinical trial populations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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