Advancing Brain Health: Achievements in 2019

Advancing Diagnostics

Study Identifies Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Brain Imaging Biomarker
Results Show Personalized Approach May Help PTSD Sufferers Receive the Right Treatment, Sooner
Cohen Veterans Bioscience announced findings from a study which identifies a critical brain imaging biomarker that may help guide people who suffer from PTSD towards the most effective treatment.

Landmark Study Identifies Six Genetic Markers of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Risk
Findings Implicate Novel Biological Pathways in PTSD, Advancing Understanding of Prevention and Treatment
Collaborative Effort Greatly Accelerated, Expanded Scope of Study to Examine More Than 30,000 Multiethnic PTSD Cases and 170,000 Controls
Cohen Veterans Bioscience and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard, announced findings from a study published in Nature Communications that identifies three genome wide genetic loci associated with PTSD risk. The risk of developing PTSD after experiencing trauma is heritable, but robust genetic markers had not yet been identified by previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS).

Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) Data Science Modeling Group
In an aligned mission to advance brain health, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research selected Cohen Veteran’s Bioscience to lead data modeling efforts for the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) study. PPMI is a multi-year, observational, multi-center study to assess progression of clinical features and imaging as well as biologic biomarkers in various populations.

Advancing Therapeutics

Cohen Veterans Bioscience and Parexel Biotech Collaborate on Landmark Adaptive Platform Trial Studying Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Pharmacotherapeutics
Cohen Veterans Bioscience announced its strategic collaboration with Parexel Biotech, a new division of Parexel, for an adaptive platform trial evaluating pharmacotherapeutics to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Circady Wins 2019 MedTech Breakthrough Award for Innovation in Sleep Therapy
Insomnia is a common symptom of PTSD that can have debilitating effects. Approximately 70-91% of PTSD patients have difficulty falling or staying asleep. Circady, an innovative insomnia treatment created from our digital health research program SleepWell, won a 2019 MedTech Breakthrough Award for Best Sleep Monitoring Solution.”

Advancing the Research Roadmap

Proceedings from the State of the Science Summit on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
The inaugural SoSS explored the state of the science in diagnosis of trauma-related brain disorders with a major focus on PTSD. Working groups surveyed the current scientific landscape, identified knowledge gaps, and considered new evidence-based scientific and clinical models to fill these gaps.

Watch Video Highlights from the State of the Science Summit on Traumatic Brain Injury
The theme of the second State of the Science Summit was Paths to Treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury(s) with a focus on the taxonomy and nosology of the chronic sequelae, challenges and opportunities in clinical practice and development, and etiology and mechanism of persistent symptoms.

Advancing Advocacy

The Coalition to Heal Invisible Wounds: 2019 Progress Report
In 2019, the Coalition to Heal Invisible Wounds has continued to drive an active Congressional outreach campaign aimed at making the VA a world-class partner on the most advanced research and development projects related to PTSD and TBI.

Veterans Advisory Council Names Members
Cohen Veterans Bioscience is sponsoring the formation of a Veterans Advisory Council (VAC) to ensure that we deliver meaningful results for Veterans through data-driven science and advocacy.

Advancing Outreach

In the News

• “Veterans Can Benefit from Biomarker Research into PTSD” (Military.com)
• “The VA Gets Real on Reform” (Applied Clinical Trials)
• “Six Genetic Markers of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Risk Identified” (Clinical Lab Products)

Publications & Resources

• View publications and resources published and funded by Cohen Veterans Bioscience.

In the Community

• CVB presented and participated in global events with our partners to advance brain health research and educate on our efforts throughout the year.

Wishing you a Happy & Healthy New Year from the Cohen Veterans Bioscience Team! We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress; we are proud to be on this incredibly important journey with you.