Mission

ACP is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating research efforts to improve diagnosis, to optimize treatment and to cure multiple sclerosis.

ACP believes that research is the only way to greatly improve the outlook for people with MS. The organization promotes scientific collaboration and accelerates research by rapidly and cost-effectively providing researchers with data and biospecimens they need to explore novel research ideas that can lead to better care for people with MS. Its strategic initiatives include:

The ACP Repository: A collection of highly characterized biosamples and data from over 3,000 subjects, available to any scientists conducting research that can positively impact people with MS
iConquerMS™ engages people with MS to help drive MS research by sharing their health information and connecting with researchers via an online portal (iConquerMS™) to accelerate efforts toward improving treatments and finding a cure for MS.

The organization's innovative approach enables MS research to advance rapidly and catalyzes collaborative efforts toward a significant impact on this devastating disease. Its resources have supported 70 research studies worldwide and generated almost 300 million returned data points for collaborative data mining and disease modeling.

Learn more about how we are leveraging innovation and collaboration to have an impact on MS.

Innovation: Catalyzing a new approach to MS

ACP's approach is to act as a catalyst for advances in MS research in two ways—by creating a stimulating, open environment that fosters the generation of novel ideas and by making it possible for researchers to test out these ideas by providing them with the timely and affordable essential raw materials they need.

Our innovative strategy gained national recognition when ACP received the 2011 Global Leadership in Innovation and Collaboration Award from the Sawyer Business School at Boston’s Suffolk University. This award demonstrates how a small organization with modest resources, but a truly innovative strategy, can make a big impact on research.

Collaboration: Connecting researchers to advance the field

Our collaboration with the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease advanced the development of the Multiple Sclerosis Discovery Forum website. We intend for this online research community to have a powerful impact on the generation of novel hypotheses that will shape future studies in MS. We believe the site will catalyze connections across disciplines that will help accelerate us toward a cure. ACP is a founding member of the Orion Bionetworks, a multi-institution cooperative alliance, that is unlocking the power of shared data and predictive modeling to help transform our understanding of diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and accelerate the search for cures. The launch of the ACP Clinical Effectiveness Study Network also promises substantial future impact. This network brings together our ACP Repository clinical sites into an organized group focused on designing and conducting important clinical research in MS and other related disorders.

Impact: Addressing the challenges of the MS research community

It is clear-especially when one looks at how quickly the ACP Repository has grown-that ACP has helped to address a significant challenge for the MS research community. The Repository now has thousands of samples and datasets, as well as millions of data points deposited for the benefit of all researchers. Review the Repository's current status. To date, ACP's biosamples and data have enabled a great number of research studies worldwide, many of which could not have taken place without the Repository.