AWARE Study Update January 2013

The AWARE study which was started in 2008 is a long-term project that aims to study the relationship between mind consciousness and brain in patients who undergo cardiac arrest and clinical death. Many people have sent requests to the Horizon website for more information regarding this project. We have to firstly point out that the Horizon Research Foundation is  not directly involved with the running of the study and therefore does not have specific information regarding this. Nevertheless while we know it is not usual for investigators to release results of their studies until their research has been completed, we did nevertheless contact the investigators for a recent update in view of the numerous request that we have received. 

The AWARE investigators have explained that owing  to the exploratory nature of this study they do not anticipate there to be an end in the near future. Instead the study is likely to evolve into further research projects downstream with time. They are pleased to report the study is progressing well but have indicated that the results so far suggest more data and larger scale studies may be required. At this time, they anticipate being able to release the preliminary results obtained during the first five years of the study in September or October 2013 to mark the fifth anniversary of the launch of the study. This will be done through the appropriate scientific channels such as publications in scientific journals and possibly by means of a lecture, symposium or conference at a suitable venue if there is sufficient public interest. This would allow the data and results to be discussed in further detail. 

The AWARE investigators asked us to thank everyone and expressed their deep appreciation for the interest shown in their work. They also apologized and mentioned that they will unfortunately not be able to release any more information until the conclusion of the study but promised to let us know when the results will be released so that we can also post them online for our readers.