Platform for Online Recruitment, Triage and Assessment for Brain Health Research (Brain Health PORTAL)

Summary

PORTAL is a digital platform to recruit and screen participants for research into brain health and ageing. We hope that it will help to streamline recruitment into key brain health research including clinical trials, biomarker research and cohort studies.

What are we doing?

Poor brain health, including conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease, have a devastating impact on individuals and represent a major public health issue. People are increasingly aware of these risks and are seeking ways of improving their brain health. New treatments and trials are now in the pipeline and we hope to help support rapid recruitment of participants to studies, ensuring that the right people are recruited to different types of study. Digital and online technology offers a means of reaching large numbers of people and gathering high quality data to support research. We hope that PORTAL will provide a new resource for brain health research in adults by recruiting, assessing and triaging participants and directing them towards research studies that they would be eligible for.

How are we doing it?

We are building an online research portal that will be closely linked to our existing online study, PROTECT-UK. Participants will register on PORTAL and complete a brief assessment including computerised tests for brain function. They will also provide consent to be contacted about research studies they may be eligible for. They will also be asked to log into the PORTAL every year to repeat their assessments and update their data. PORTAL will host a variety of research studies including clinical trials, biomarker studies and data collection studies which participants can register for.

What happens next?

Affiliated to the PROTECT-UK Study, PORTAL will continuously, automatically screen participants to see if they are eligible for new studies. Participants will then receive emails or notifications about these studies and invited to register. PORTAL will also continue to collect digital data from participants, allowing ongoing data collection to support analysis for brain health research.

What is the PROTECT-UK Study?

The PROTECT Study is an exciting opportunity to take part in a major UK research study. It aims to understand how healthy brains age and why people develop dementia. The PROTECT study is run by the University of Exeter and Kings College London, in partnership with the NHS.

How do I get involved?

To take part in the PROTECT study, visit the website by clicking here.

To find out more about collaborating with the research team, click here.