Cures Within Reach Announces Finalists for CureAccelerator Live! on October 16

CHICAGO - Sept. 12, 2018 - PRLog -- Cures Within Reach, a leading global nonprofit focused on repurposing research as a fast track to impacting patients is holding CureAccelerator Live!, its unique philanthropic pitch competition, on October 16, 2018 during the Collaborations Addressing Vulnerable Populations Forum.

Researchers and clinicians from three academic centers based in the Mid-Atlantic Region will present their repurposing research clinical trial projects in front of attendees of the Collaborations Addressing Vulnerable Populations (CAVP) Forum, as well as community members representing pharma, biotech, academia, medicine, philanthropy and patient groups. The winning project will be selected by attendees that evening to receive up to $50,000 in funding. More info on the CAVP Forum, a two-day, four-track conference held on October 16 – 17 in Herndon, Virginia, is at http://cavpforum.com/.

The four finalists invited to present their clinical trial projects are:

·       Akiva S. Cohen, PhD from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia presenting "Dietary Therapy for Concussion"
·       John Elfar, MD from Penn State Health presenting "Repurposing 4AP to Answer the Golden Question in Trauma Surgery"
·       Adam Kaplin, MD, PhD from Johns Hopkins University presenting "Repurposing a High-Blood Pressure Drug to Decrease Pediatric Suicide"
·       Mike Wang from Johns Hopkins University presenting "Repurposing Over-the-Counter Cough Medicine Dextromethorphan as a Rapid-Acting Antidepressant Without Conventional Side Effects"

"After holding several CureAccelerator Live! events in Chicago, we are excited to bring this pitch competition to the metro Washington DC area.  By partnering with the CAVP Forum, the finals of CureAccelerator Live! is the featured evening event on October 16, and CAVP attendees are the ideal audience to help select our winner that evening," said Barbara Goodman, President & COO of Cures Within Reach. "We are grateful to our CureAccelerator Live! philanthropic supporters, the Kahlert Foundation and Goldman Philanthropic Partnerships, who are helping to showcase the potential for quick and positive patient impact through repurposing."

Early bird tickets for CureAccelerator Live! are available until September 17, 2018 before prices increase. For tickets and more information about the event, visit https://cureswithinreach.org/calive2018.

The winner of the inaugural CureAccelerator Live! event in 2016 led a clinical trial at the University of Illinois at Chicago that combined an approved medical device with a generic drug to repair vascular damage caused by chronic limb ischemia. The 2017 CureAccelerator Live! winner is conducting a clinical trial at the University of Michigan that repurposes drugs to help treat metastatic thyroid cancer – more info on this research is here: https://www.cureswithinreach.org/research-projects/739-repurposing-old-drugs-as-new-therapies-for-metastatic-thyroid-cancer.  Chicago ABC7 News anchor Judy Hsu reported on the clinical impact of the 2016 winner's research: http://abc7chicago.com/health/medical-treatment-repurposes-drug-could-potentially-save-limbs/2150723/.

About Cures Within Reach (http://www.cureswithinreach.org/)
Cures Within Reach (CWR) is a US-based global philanthropic leader that improves patient quality and length of life by leveraging the speed, safety and cost-effectiveness of medical repurposing research, driving more treatments to more patients more quickly. CWR catalyzes research to facilitate and validate repurposing opportunities that create clinical impact, and enables and facilitates conversation and action among stakeholders that help transform healthcare through repurposing opportunities. Through repurposing, CWR drives both market impact and health savings to patients and patient groups, from academia / researchers, with payers and the healthcare industry and with support from the government, philanthropy and others. CWR's repurposing research projects have generated "new" treatments in over a dozen disease indications, making patient impact through off-label use in clinical practice or through a commercialization track.

CWR currently has a global portfolio of 18 repurposing research projects, as well as more than 180 repurposing research projects available for funding in a wide range of diseases on its CureAccelerator^® site. Visit cureswithinreach.org or follow CWR via Twitter @CuresWReach, LinkedIn (LinkedIn.com/company/cures-within-reach), YouTube (YouTube.com/cureswithinreach) or Facebook (Facebook.com/CuresWithinReach).