New, dedicated trial space ‘a gamechanger’ for neuroscience

The Neuroscience Clinical Trial Unit opened in June 2024, thanks to funding from the Shake It Up Australia Foundation and the Bendat Family Foundation, which will allow for more in-depth and innovative clinical trials, especially for Parkinson’s disease.

The unit works across many different areas, which also includes epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, headache and neuromuscular trials.

Jack Germaine, the Manager of Neuroscience Clinical Trials Research at The Alfred, said having a large, dedicated trial space for the unit was a gamechanger.

“A lot of these diseases are incurable. So having these sorts of trials gives people and doctors other options,” he said. “By trialling new medications, it could lead to the next phase of research or treatment for these conditions and, potentially, cures.”

The unit has six dedicated beds for patients with movement disorders. This allows for multiple people to stay overnight as well as conducting outpatient visits on the same day.

“We have basically been able to triple how many patients we can see in a day,” Mr Germaine said.

As well as the immense benefits to patients and staff for The Alfred and its community, the space also allows for biotechnology companies from around the world being attracted to undertake initial trials at the facility.

“It gives our team a lot of opportunities to do a lot of cutting-edge, fast-paced research, and it is really exciting for the hospital as well,” Mr Germaine said.

“One ‘phase one’ trial is a lot of work on its own and we have six starting in 2025, so we are looking forward to the challenge of that. But we couldn’t do it without the specialist unit," Mr Germaine said. “A significant number of all early-phase trials in Australia are now occurring at The Alfred in the neuroscience space, which is only growing.”

Head of Movement Disorders at The Alfred, Dr Kelly Bertram, said it was “really beneficial” to have a clinical space which allowed for patients who sometimes have difficulty with mobility.

“Having the opportunity to do that in a public hospital, allows anyone with Parkinson’s disease in Australia access to the trial,” she said. “But it also allows us to bring trials to Australia that were previously unattainable. We can now book overnight stays which don’t affect the running of the hospital.

“For many years, there hasn’t been a significant change in medicine in the Parkinson’s disease space. Any medicines now treat the symptoms; they’re not altering the long-term disease course.

“Having new drugs come through to be tested that might actually do that, is really exciting.”

Established in partnership with The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the Shake It Up Australia Foundation is dedicated to funding world-class research to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease, which currently affects more than 200,000 Australians.

Chief Executive of the Shake It Up Australia Foundation, Vicki Miller, said trials like this at The Alfred allow fast-tracking “groundbreaking research for Parkinson’s so that the community can benefit from these studies’ translational impact sooner”.

“Clinical trials are the cornerstone of scientific discovery and evidence-based practice,” she said. “Not only do they accelerate our mission to discover ways to slow, stop and cure Parkinson’s, but they also provide patients with a unique opportunity to directly participate in research, bringing us one step closer to a world without Parkinson’s.

“By creating this gold-standard clinical trials facility and supporting world-class research, Shake It Up is excited to empower The Alfred in establishing a scalable model for Parkinson’s research across Australia,” Ms Miller said.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Bendat Family Foundation for their generosity, which has made this landmark project possible./p>

“We believe this initiative will inspire greater collaboration, faster advancements in treatments and, ultimately, bring us closer to unlocking the answers needed to cure Parkinson’s once and for all.”

Read the full Impact report.