May 27, 2014
Janet Beronio
Chairwoman
Thom Reilly
Executive Director
Caesars Foundation
2100 Caesars Palace Drive
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
Dear Ms. Beronio and Mr. Reilly,
Thank you for reviewing our proposal to support a Brain Health Registry for the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. This project is one of our highest priority areas that we think can have maximal impact for our center, the community, and the world. The registry will have two primary functions:
- Provide brain health information to all registrants
- Collect information that will help us identify patients for clinical trials
Roughly 50% of the risk or Alzheimer’s disease and other late life brain diseases can be reduced through lifestyle modifications and education on how to accomplish this must be made more generally available and accessible. This will be accomplished by the first goal of the registry. The registry will be promoted locally as well as a globally and will benefit all participants including Caesars employees.
The second goal of the registry is to identity patients for clinical trials. The Ruvo Center has one of the most active clinical trials programs in the nation. We need patients to participate in trials and the Registry will be crucial channel for finding participants interested in trials. We have trials for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, pre-Alzheimer memory impairment, and healthy elderly at risk for Alzheimer’s. In addition we have trials for patients with Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
For example, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation of New York recently awarded us $1.1 million to conduct a trial of a drug used in Parkinson’s to determine if it will also be of value in Alzheimer’s. We will need many participants for this trial and the registry will help us identify them.
We are requesting 3 years’ of support for the registry. This is the period required to design it, implement it, promote it, and re-iteratively perfect it. After then the revenue generated by more clinical trials activity will allow us to sustain the on-going costs of the registry. We understand that the gift will have to be renewed annually for this period and we will provide milestone and delivery information.
The Brain Health Registry aligns well with Caesars central focus of supporting projects for healthy and successful aging.
The Lou Ruvo Center is approaching its 5th year anniversary. In this period we have had remarkable success attracting great doctors, providing care in over 50,000 patient visits, building one of the largest trial programs in the nation, and attracting tremendous positive attention to the medical and scientific activities of Las Vegas. We have succeeded because of the great support of the community including the Caesars Foundation. The Brain Health Registry is the next step in our agenda and will advance both the health of the community and our scientific/treatment development agenda.
On behalf of our dedicated team of caregivers and researchers, I thank you for your support. Don’t forget to sign up for the Registry!
Warmest Regards,
Larry Ruvo Jeffrey L. Cummings, MD, ScD
Chairman and Founder Director, Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
Camille and Larry Ruvo Chair for Brain Health