BrightFocus Honored for Role in Alzheimer’s Public Impact Campaign

“Shorty” Recognizes National Film Screenings to Educate, Engage on Clinical Trials

Clarksburg, MD – BrightFocus Foundation today announced that it has received a SHORTY Social Good Award ® for the public impact of its nationwide screening tour of Turning Point, a documentary by acclaimed filmmaker James Keach following the hopes and disappointments of scientists and clinical trial volunteers as they work to develop a more effective drug for Alzheimer’s disease. The award honors excellence and impact in digital media.

“This award will help call more attention to the critical need to slow, treat, and ultimately cure Alzheimer’s. Our aging national and global population makes it imperative to change the trajectory of this terrible disease,” said BrightFocus President and CEO Stacy Pagos Haller.

Working with Gates Ventures and key public and private sector leaders, BrightFocus has screened the film nationally and internationally before community audiences, health care and scientific groups, and policymakers to educate and mobilize on clinical trials.  To date, the film has been shown more than 100 times to an audience of over 15,000, with many screenings including panel discussions featuring notable figures in Alzheimer’s research.

In post-screening surveys, 64% of respondents said they would discuss clinical trials with family members or consider joining themselves after seeing the film. 86% described the film as an effective tool to learn about Alzheimer’s.

In praising the film philanthropist Bill Gates said, “Turning Point is an excellent documentary that gives us an inside look at the doctors, scientists, and patients who are working to uncover the mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease through clinical trials…Everybody should see this film.”

BrightFocus Foundation is a premier source of private research funding to defeat diseases of mind and sight: Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration and glaucoma. Currently supporting over 100 Alzheimer’s projects worldwide, BrightFocus has invested over $130 million since its inception in innovative Alzheimer’s research, pursuing the untried, the unexpected, and the most promising science. For more information visit www.BrightFocus.org.