News

Stay updated on the latest news related to iConquerMS™ and MS research.

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has expanded its iConquerMS™ Patient-Powered Research Network to include caregivers to people with MS. The new arm of iConquerMS will include a new website and research program that focuses specifically on the needs, preferences, and insights of MS caregivers.

Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis & its iConquerMS People-Powered Research Network to Collaborate with Quest Diagnostics and the National MS Society to Launch COVER-MS Sub-Study of Immune Responses to COVID-19 Vaccinations

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerated Cure Project (ACP, www.acceleratedcure.org) for multiple sclerosis (MS), with its iConquerMS™ People-Powered Research Network (www.iConquerMS.org) initiative, is collaborating with Quest Diagnostics and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (www.nationalMSsociety.org) to study immune response to COVID-19 vaccinations of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS).

There is a lot of information regarding COVID-19 and we know people affected by MS have so many questions. Here are some resources we have found that provide helpful information regarding COVID-19 and MS. (Updated January 11, 2021.)

 

“Uncovering Sex in MS: A Dialogue About Sex, Parenthood and Hormones”

A podcast series developed by EMD Serono in collaboration with Accelerated Cure Project deals with important aspects of reproductive health that are seldom discussed, The topics covered in the series were developed based on input from the iConquerMS community.

Episode 1: Preconception planning for women with MS

Episode 2: Preconception planning for men with MS

Episode 3: Postpartum planning for new mothers with MS

Learn how people with MS are shaping the clinical trials for future MS drugs. A recent collaboration between iConquerMS and EMD Serono helped ensure that the perspectives of people with MS were meaningfully incorporated into the design and implementation of a trial for evobrutinib, an investigational drug for MS.

In September 2019, the iConquerMS governance and other stakeholders in the MS community gathered to discuss the future direction of the initiative. On the agenda: participant-driven research, diversity and inclusion, care partners’ involvement in research, ageism in MS, and more! Read about this gathering.

 

2018 Review and Looking Forward

Your enthusiasm and participation made 2018 a very exciting year for iConquerMS™ and Accelerated Cure Project (ACP), and a great springboard for our 2019 activities. We want to share a few of the highlights from 2018. 

There’s an often-quoted adage that if you want something done right, do it yourself. Unfortunately, in healthcare, that’s not a reality for most patients. Instead, those suffering from illness and disease must wait for researchers and clinicians to find and develop treatments and therapies that can provide a cure, treatment or relief.

But things are changing. iConquerMS is a ground-breaking initiative that empowers people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to help drive MS research and accelerate efforts toward improving treatments and finding a cure for the disease.

Patients fighting against a growing disease

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) today announced a collaboration with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (Society) to speed the pace of research for cures and treatments for MS. Through this collaboration, the Society will partner with ACP to leverage  the iConquerMS™ People-Powered Research Network (www.iConquerMS.org), a research initiative of the Accelerated Cure Project to drive engagement of people with MS in the design, conduct, and impact of MS research, as well as increase input and involvement from clinicians, researchers, and others affected by MS.

Efforts will Expand Education Across the Multiple Sclerosis Community

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) today announced a collaboration with RealTalk MS, a weekly podcast for people affected by MS to expand sharing of research results and activities across the MS community. ACP will share insights and questions generated through its research initiative, iConquerMS™ (www.iConquerMS.org), to help inform future topics and content of the podcast.

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerated Cure Project (ACP) for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) today announced it has entered into a ground-breaking collaboration with EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany in the U.S. and Canada, to capture and integrate the perspectives of people affected by MS into the design and implementation of clinical trials in MS. The patient-focused drug development collaboration will be supported through iConquerMS™ (www.iConquerMS.org), a research initiative of the Accelerated Cure Project, and will inform EMD Serono's MS clinical trial program. The collaboration includes the development and validation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in drug development.

WALTHAM, Mass., May 30, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The iConquerMS™ People-Powered Research Network, managed by Accelerated Cure Project, and the Italian MS Society PROMOPRO-MS database have announced a collaboration on a project to explore the feasibility of standardizing and harmonizing patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures between the two initiatives.  Both organizations have substantial experience in collecting PROs for MS research and healthcare.

News provided by

Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis

Oct 25, 2016, 08:00 ET

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A team led by the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis (ACP) has been approved for a Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to support development of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Minority Research Engagement Partnership Network, a collaboration designed to identify and address disparities and increase participation by underrepresented communities in MS medical research.

REAL MS™ Will Explore Causes and Factors that Affect Progression and Treatment Outcomes

WALTHAM, MA, September 12, 2016 – iConquerMS™ (www.iConquerMS.org), a research initiative of the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, today launches REAL MS™, a prospective longitudinal study of multiple sclerosis intended to answer important questions about the heterogeneity of the experience of MS across the population of people living with the disease and identify ways to personalize clinical care by identifying factors that affect progression and treatment outcomes.  REAL MS™ (Research Engagement About Life with Multiple Sclerosis) will encompass a diverse population of thousands of individuals living with MS, who will participate by answering online questionnaires about their disease experience and by providing biosamples for molecular analysis.

Funding supports iConquerMS™, the only multiple sclerosis research initiative in PCORnet

WALTHAM, MA, July 28, 2015 – The Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis has been approved for a three-year $1.3 million funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Initiative (PCORI) for ongoing development of iConquerMS™. iConquerMS™ is a nationwide initiative by and for individuals living with multiple sclerosis who recognize the power of their health data and insights, and want to harness that power to fuel research; and is part of PCORnet, the National Patient- Centered Clinical Research Network.

First of its kind initiative creates network of 20,000 MS patients to accelerate

Big Data approach for answering key questions

WALTHAM, MA, February 3, 2015 – The Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis today launches iConquerMS™, the nationwide initiative by and for individuals living with multiple sclerosis who recognize the power of their health data and insights and want to harness that power to fuel research. The initiative's portal www.iConquerMS.org enables all people living with MS to play an active role in research, empowering them to securely submit their health data, propose topics of research that are most important to them, influence the research that is carried out by the initiative, and become truly informed about the research process and specific studies.

BOSTON, Dec. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A team led by the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis (ACP) has been approved for a funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to create the Multiple Sclerosis Patient-Powered Research Network (MS-PPRN). The MS-PPRN is one of 29 health data networks that were approved for a total of $93.5 million from PCORI to form the PCORnet: the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, a new national resource that aims to boost the efficiency of health research.