Project Update August 2017

1)      GENERAL

It has been agreed that the short form of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) will be administered, as a validation measure, alongside the MLSE and ACE-III.

The initial drafts of the SOP for MLSE testing and scoring guidelines are being finalised by NP and KPE. SOP for REDCap data entry will also be drafted by NP.

Majority of the control data collection will take place in SGUL, with MR acquisition from as many as consent to it. Control imaging could also be undertaken through the project in Cambridge, if necessary (to be discussed at the next teleconference).

2)      PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT AND TESTING

Both sites have launched contact with patients and controls for to begin recruitment.

The current SGUL database has 9 patients (2 SD, 4 PNFA, 2 LPA and 1 PSP). SGUL will prioritise control recruitment (as outlined above).

SGUL has been contacted by Wessex CRN (Southampton, Poole and Portsmouth University Hospitals) and Thames Valley via the Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS) to contribute as recruitment sites for the MLSE study.

PG and NP discussed the project with the research manager at both sites via a teleconference. There has been verbal mutual agreement to include both as PIC (participant identification centres) sites for the study to boost recruitment numbers. Research managers will discuss with their local PIs and update NP in due course.

3)      DATA SHARING

SGUL has received the signed data sharing agreement for the REDCap database from the Cambridge Governance office. We still await confirmation of agreement from the Manchester group.

Confirmation from the Italian group is also required for institutional access to REDCap database to process a data sharing agreement with them.

NP is constructing the online data storage structure on REDCap for the MLSE/BDAE/ACE-III tests. Access to Cambridge and Manchester will be granted soon.

PG and TB spoke to Clare Mackay about SGUL being included as a hub in the DPUK imaging platform. This was accepted in principle, and we will begin to work towards setting up XNAT in SGUL to facilitate sharing of imaging data with Cambridge and Manchester.

4)      PROJECT IMPACTS

The NIHR CRN have invited the MLSE study team to write a blog as part of the NIHR’s World Alzheimer’s Month campaign. PG is to action this and the blog is estimated to go live next week on the campaign webpage.

St George’s Neurosciences Research team presented their research (including the MLSE study) at the International Clinical Trials Day back in June 2017. A blog about the research has been published on the NIHR website.

KPE presented a poster providing an introduction and background to the MLSE study at the Cambridge Neuroscience Seminar (7th-8th Sept).

5)      DATE OF NEXT PROJECT MEETING

A project teleconference will be scheduled on either Friday 6th October (AM) or Tuesday 10th October. A Doodle poll will be sent out soon on the suitability of these dates and times [NP to action].

The next face-to-face meeting is provisionally scheduled for January 2018, in Bressanone, Italy (to coincide with the European Workshop on Cognitive Neuropsychology, which runs from January 22nd – 26th). The precise date will be discussed in the October 2017 teleconference, but there is support from the Italian group for a meeting on Sunday January 21st.