Fox Foundation offers $2m for ‘game-changing’ Parkinson’s breakthrough

PD in Practice

Author: Parkinson's Life editorsPublished: 7 July 2016

Prep: Cook: Serves:

The Michael J Fox Foundation is offering US$2 million to the first researcher to develop a tracer for alpha-synuclein – the protein that is a strong pathological indicator of Parkinson’s disease.

Imaging of alpha-synuclein could become a useful biomarker of the presence of the disease and possibly even a measure of disease progression.

In a statement issued on its website, the Foundation said: “The ability to image alpha-synuclein deposition in the brain would be a game-changing achievement for the Parkinson’s disease field.

“With this prize, the Foundation seeks to attract research teams and accelerate momentum to speed the development of such a tracer.”

The prize is open to all academic and industry researchers and contestants may already be funded by the MJFF or not. There is no deadline and the $2 million prize will be awarded to the first contestant who submits “compelling evidence of a viable selective tracer and agrees to its widespread use”.

To see the full submission requirements, the judging panel and how to apply, visit the website here

Learn more about alpha-synuclein in this free podcast: ‘Stopping disease progression’

Last Month

Next Month

Go Back

Share this story

Comments

Health & Fitness

Singapore runs for Parkinson’s

Parkinson Society Singapore fun run to raise awareness and funds

Save the last dance for Google Glass

How innovative software is helping patients dance off symptoms

Parkinson Italia launches multi-stakeholder White Book research project

Major new study will help create ‘patient wellbeing scale’

Musical therapy study to receive $20 million in funding

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is donating US $20 million to a medical trial researching the effects of musical therapy on brain conditions, including Parkinson’s. The trial will be carried out by the Sound Health initiative, a joint partnership between the NIH and The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The initiative was created to expand current knowledge of how listening, performing and creating music could be harnessed for health and wellness. Francis S. Collins, director of the NIH, said: “We know that the beat of a metronome can steady the gait of someone with Parkinson’s disease, for example, but we don’t fully understand how that happens. “If we can pinpoint in the brain how music therapy works through the use of imaging and biomarkers, the hope is that we can improve its effectiveness and apply it more broadly to improve the lives of millions of people.”

Researchers develop automated system to diagnose Parkinson’s

In an international study, researchers from the US, Germany and Austria have used a non-invasive MRI method to develop an automated system that can diagnose Parkinson’s. As part of the study – published in medical journal ‘The Lancet Digital Health’ – researchers worked with 1,002 patients and used an imaging method that measures how water molecules diffuse in the brain. This helped them to identify where neurodegeneration is occurring. Researchers hope this will help improve the accuracy of early Parkinson’s diagnoses – which they estimate to be around 58%. Dr David Vaillancourt, who led the study, said: “Our method may help to reduce the number of misdiagnosed cases in the future. Since these diseases require unique treatment plans and different medications, and clinical trials testing new medications require the correct diagnosis, getting it right is important for patient care.”

MJFF announces $10 million competition for Parkinson’s

The Michael J Fox Foundation has launched the ‘Ken Griffin Alpha-synuclein Imaging Competition’ – a US $10 million programme aiming to develop a game-changing tool for Parkinson’s research. As part of the competition, participating teams will compete in a scientific race to build a device that is able to identify alpha-synuclein – a protein closely associated with Parkinson’s. Although almost everyone diagnosed with Parkinson’s has clumps of alpha-synuclein in the brain, these are currently only visible when analysing tissue during autopsies. The competition is named after Ken Griffin, CEO of US investment firm Citadel who has given US $7.5 million funding to the programme. Griffin – whose father has Parkinson’s – said: “If we have the imaging capability to observe the pathology that arises from protein-misfolding in real time, and understand how drugs are impacting people in real time, that would be a major advance.”

All fields required

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Enter Email Confirm Email
Country of residence*
About me*
- I have Parkinson's disease
- I am a partner / carer / family / friend of someone who has Parkinson's
- I am a healthcare professional with an interest in Parkinson's
- I work for a Parkinson's disease organisation
- Other
CAPTCHA
*
- By proceeding you agree to our
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Fox Foundation offers $2m for ‘game-changing’ Parkinson’s breakthrough

PD in Practice

Author: Parkinson's Life editorsPublished: 7 July 2016

Prep: Cook: Serves:

Last Month

Next Month

Share this story

Comments

Health & Fitness

Singapore runs for Parkinson’s

Advances

Save the last dance for Google Glass

Europe

Parkinson Italia launches multi-stakeholder White Book research project

Musical therapy study to receive $20 million in funding

Researchers develop automated system to diagnose Parkinson’s

MJFF announces $10 million competition for Parkinson’s

{title}

Subscribe

Fox Foundation offers $2m for ‘game-changing’ Parkinson’s breakthrough

PD in Practice

Author: Parkinson's Life editorsPublished: 7 July 2016

Prep: Cook: Serves:

Last Month

Next Month

Share this story

Comments

Related articles

Health & Fitness

Singapore runs for Parkinson’s

Advances

Save the last dance for Google Glass

Europe

Parkinson Italia launches multi-stakeholder White Book research project

Musical therapy study to receive $20 million in funding

Researchers develop automated system to diagnose Parkinson’s

MJFF announces $10 million competition for Parkinson’s

{title}

Subscribe

Sign in