Call for Nominations for the 2017 Global Health Repurposing Awards

SKOKIE, Ill. - Jan. 5, 2017 - PRLog -- Cures Within Reach, the leading global non-profit focused on repurposing research as a fast-track to saving patient lives, is issuing a Call for Nominations for its 2017 Global Health Repurposing Awards. The Global Health Repurposing Awards (GHRA) honor leaders in business, science and philanthropy whose achievements have made a difference in patient lives through repurposing research that finds new uses for existing drugs, devices and nutriceuticals. The 2017 GHRA Awards will be dedicated to repurposing in rare diseases.

Cures Within Reach is seeking nominations for the Janet Davison Rowley Patient Impact Research Award, the Golan Christie Taglia Patient Impact Philanthropy Award and the Cures Within Reach Industry Patient Impact Award. Nominations will be accepted via the Cures Within Reach website (www.cureswithinreach.org) through February 13, 2017. Awardees can be nominated from anywhere in the world, and will be recognized at the Global Health Repurposing Awards event on June 27, 2017 in Chicago, IL.

"Cures Within Reach is excited to recognize leaders who are advancing repurposing research for rare diseases," said Dr. Bruce Bloom, President and Chief Science Officer at Cures Within Reach. "There are over 7,000 unsolved rare diseases, and 30 million Americans suffer from some type of rare disease. We need the help of the wider business, scientific and philanthropic community to locate individual and organizational heroes making a positive impact for rare disease patients using existing science and medicine to create repurposed treatments."

The Janet Davison Rowley Patient Impact Research Award is awarded to a researcher, clinician or team that fits the following profile:

• Successfully repositioned or repurposed a drug, device or nutriceutical for human clinical use in a rare disease(s), being used either as an FDA approved therapy or regularly being prescribed off-label

• The results of this repurposing success are published in the clinical or scientific literature

• Patients who use the repurposed treatment enjoy an increased quality and/or length of life

The Golan Christie Taglia Patient Impact Philanthropy Award is awarded to an individual, group or organization that fits the following profile:

• Recognized as a leader in a rare disease advocacy, research or healthcare philanthropic organization or endeavor, and/or be a high profile supporter of such a philanthropic organization or endeavor

• Has made significant philanthropic contributions and/or created fundraising that has resulted in the advancement of repurposing

• Has brought together various stakeholders to create an increased quality and/or length of life for patients

The Cures Within Reach Industry Patient Impact Research Award is awarded to a healthcare industry leader or organization that fits the following profile:

• Is or was in a significant leadership position in the healthcare industry and has demonstrated a commitment to collaboration, service and/or support for repurposing in rare diseases

• Focused the attention of the healthcare industry, and the company he or she was/is leading, on improving the lives of rare diseases patients through repurposing

• If significant repurposing impact has already been made through the efforts of this industry leader, patients who use or used the repurposed treatment enjoyed an increased quality and/or length of life

Recipients of these awards must be able to attend the Global Health Repurposing Awards and give a short presentation about their achievements. Awardees will also be invited to attend and present at the 6th Annual Global Health Drug Repositioning and Repurposing Conference, held in conjunction with the Global Health Repurposing Awards.

ABOUT CURES WITHIN REACH

Cures Within Reach (http://www.cureswithinreach.org) works to catalyze repurposing research to quickly and affordably improve patient lives. We accomplish this by connecting funders with researchers to jumpstart repurposing research clinical trials, by providing collaboration tools so repurposing stakeholders can work together more easily, and by pioneering alternative finance engines and incentives for repurposing research. Cures Within Reach's repurposing research projects have generated over a dozen "new" treatments making patient impact through off-label use in clinical practice or through a commercialization track. Cures Within Reach currently has 24 repurposing research projects either funded or approved for funding.

ABOUT CUREACCELERATOR™

Cures Within Reach built CureAccelerator (http://www.cureaccelerator.org) to provide a global collaboration space and marketplace for repurposing research that can deliver effective solutions to unsolved diseases. The CureAccelerator platform was built with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to provide a platform in which drugs, devices and nutriceuticals approved for one or more human diseases can be repurposed to create "new" treatments in other diseases.  CureAccelerator has over 1,000 users who have proposed 120 projects, of which more than 20 have received funding and are moving towards patient impact.

Visit us at www.cureswithinreach.org or follow us via Twitter.com/CuresWReach, LinkedIn.com/company/cures-within-reach, YouTube.com/cureswithinreach or Facebook.com/CuresWithinReach.