On Tuesday, December 17, from 2 to 3 p.m., The Michael J. Fox Foundation (@MichaelJFoxOrg) will host a Twitter chat about the cost of slow clinical trial recruitment and how it affects scientific progress more broadly. As a friend of The Michael J. Fox Foundation, you may already know that clinical trials are a crucial step on the path to developing new and better treatments for Parkinson's disease and that clinical trials across all diseases face an enduring lack of volunteers willing to participate. However, technology-based solutions, such as MJFF’s Fox Trial Finder, are emerging as worthy opponents to this chronic problem.

The chat will be moderated by Matt Herper (@matthewherper), science and medicine reporter for Forbes, and will explore recruitment challenges, the solutions that are currently available and how they may continue to evolve. Follow hashtag #foxchat to share your own thoughts and questions with panelists from the Foundation, the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative. (We recommend following along with TweetChat.com, a free browser based tool.)

What's a Twitter Chat?

A Twitter chat is a free exchange of ideas between participants around a specific topic. Chats are public events and are open to anyone with a Twitter account; you don’t have to be a longtime user to participate, either. Create a free Twitter account and join us on Tuesday.