iConquerMS™

ACP and our partners are excited to announce the launch of iConquerMS™, a ground-breaking initiative that empowers people with MS to help drive MS research and accelerate efforts toward improving treatments and finding a cure for MS.

Through iConquerMS.org, the initiative’s online portal, people with MS will be able to participate in and help drive research by:

Safely and securely providing personal health information through the completion of surveys and the contribution of Electronic Health Records
Setting the research agenda for studies performed using network data by submitting research questions on topics of interest to them
Connecting and sharing experiences with other people in the MS

Our hope is that people with MS will be eager to join this cutting-edge network because it is only through more involvement of the entire MS community that we can better accelerate efforts toward improving treatments and finding a cure

Please visit iConquerMS.org for more information and to register for the initiative.

Sign up for the iConquerMS^TM Newsletter to receive news and information.

More about this initiative

Funding was awarded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)

The initial funding for iConquerMSTM is provided by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. For more information about PCORI funding, visit http://pcori.org/funding-opportunities.

iConquerMS™ is part of the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network to improve health research efficiency

iConquerMSTM is one of 29 health data networks that will form PCORnet: the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, a new national resource that aims to boost the efficiency of health research. PCORI envisions PCORnet to be a secure, national data network that improves the speed, efficiency, and use of patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER).

By integrating data available in the 29 individual networks, PCORnet aims to provide access to a large amount of diverse, nationally representative health information that can support a range of study designs. It will reduce the time and effort needed to launch new studies and focus research on questions and outcomes especially useful to patients and those who care for them.

Multiple stakeholders were involved in the selection of iConquerMS™ as a national awardee

iConquerMSTM was selected for PCORnet through a competitive review process in which patients, caregivers, and other stakeholders joined scientists to evaluate the proposals. Applications were assessed for the capacity of their network to collect complete, comprehensive clinical data, how well they will engage patients and other stakeholders, and their ability to maintain data security and patient privacy among other criteria.

Our goal is to have 20,000 iConquerMS™ participants by mid-2015

By the end of our 18-month award, we expect that iConquerMS.org will be actively used by more than 20,000 people with MS, or 5% of the estimated MS population in the United States. To achieve this goal, we will:

Work closely with MS advocacy organizations, such as the MS Coalition, who have agreed to invite their members
Engage our existing ACP Repository network of more than 3,200 participants
Drawn upon our relationships with 60 research teams and MS specialty clinics nationwide
Work with other MS clinics and community neurologists interested in forwarding our cause

We are collaborating with other leading organizations to create iConquerMS™

To build iConquerMSTM and iConquerMS.org, ACP is collaborating with the following organizations:

Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative at Arizona State University

Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative (CASI) is a program within Arizona State University that leverages trans-disciplinary relationships to address complex global challenges in health, sustainability, security, and education by creating entirely new technologies and novel solutions. This requires integration of diverse research disciplines across the University and building an extended network of global collaborations.

Feinstein Kean Healthcare

Feinstein Kean Healthcare (FKH) is a leading strategy and communications partner for emerging and established organizations whose innovations are helping to transform life sciences and healthcare. The firm works with clients at the intersection where disruptive technologies and ideas influence medicine, clinical research and practice, business models, public policy, and public opinion and behaviors.