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Thanks to our network of collaborators who help us promote open science.
By supporting an open access policy, we facilitate the rapid and free exchange of scientific ideas, ensuring that the research we fund can be leveraged for future discoveries.
The Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative is devoted to accelerating the pace of discovery and informing the path to a cure for Parkinson’s disease through collaboration, research-enabling resources, and data sharing.
Fund international multidisciplinary teams to encourage the exchange of ideas, foster innovation, and catalyze new experimental approaches.
Build infrastructure to support the next generation of Parkinson’s research through genetic analysis efforts, training support, natural history studies, and other research tools.
Implement open science policies to ensure that ASAP-funded research, outputs, and tools can be leveraged by the broader community.
Learn about the work of the fourteen awarded teams.
The research discoveries largely centered around 4 categories:
Dysfunction of selective autophagic mechanisms have been directly linked to PD. ASAP teams published articles that centered on understanding autophagosome biogenesis, elongation, and downstream mechanisms, with specific insights on mitophagy and lysophagy.
Protein aggregation has been implicated in the progression of neurodegenerative disorders, such as PD. Focusing specifically on the proteins alpha-synuclein and tau, ASAP teams explored how protein aggregation begins and how it can be hindered or enhanced.
LRRK2 mutations are the most common genetic causes for PD. ASAP teams focused on understanding the LRRK2 interactome and how LRRK2 mutations impact downstream signaling pathways.
Diseases are often complex and multi-systemic, and as such can have shared pathophysiology. ASAP teams explored PD in the context of other diseases and created tools to better evaluate risk loci.
ASAP is guided by the belief that research outcomes will be improved through the following principles:
Given the multifactorial nature of Parkinson’s disease, charting a new path will require multidisciplinary cooperation from investigators with and without a previous record of PD research.
Philanthropic capital has the most impact in areas that are deemed unpopular, high-risk, or out-of-scope for government funding, requiring creative and thoughtful consideration of research.
As roadmap goals are implemented, we will be responsive to the evolving nature of research and adjust focus as deemed appropriate.
To accelerate research, we’ll support the free flow of data and resources within our collaborative network and make findings available to the broader community.
We’re enabling science to go further, faster, and at a greater scale. Follow @ASAP_Research across our social media channels and join our mailing list for exciting updates as our work matures.
Sign up for updates here.
Huw Morris leads the Cohort Integration working group (CIWG). In this blog post, Huw provides an outline of the research on Parkinson’s disease over the last 25 years and shares the plans of the CIWG to harmonize clinical data from research participants to enable large clinical outcomes research.
As a follow-up to the last blog post on Understanding GWAS, the GP2 Complex Disease Data Analysis Working Group has provided practical tips and insights for running your own GWAS.
Adding a layer of compute to connect two massive datasets is where we are headed. Mike Nalls, Hampton Leonard, Matt Bookman, and Eline Appelmans outline the partnership between The Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2) and Accelerating Medicines Partnership: Parkinson's Disease (AMP PD) to be your one-stop shop for PD genetic and genomic data in this new blog post.
Members of the GP2 Operations and Compliance working group provide an overview of what compliance is and why it is important in GP2.
Members of the GP2 Complex Disease Data Analysis working group provide an overview of Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), including statistical formulae, workflows, and examples from the most recent Parkinson’s disease GWAS.
Christine Klein leads the GP2 Monogenic Hub. In this post Christine shares how her interest in Parkinson’s disease genetics was sparked, which genes have been discovered so far, and the questions which are still to be answered.
The ASAP Collaborative Research Network is an international, multidisciplinary, and multi-institutional network of 35 teams working to address research and knowledge gaps in the development and progression of PD.
The ASAP Collaborative Research Network (CRN) continues to expand, attracting new investigators across multiple disciplines, institutions, career stages, and geographies. Working together, the CRN addresses gaps in the development and progression of Parkinson’s disease. This year, we welcome 14 new research teams who will focus their work on circuitry and brain-body interactions.
The effect of genetic alterations on disease biology
The molecular and cellular contributions of the neuro-immune system
The underlying neuronal circuit dynamics and interface with the periphery
The role of heredity, neuro-immune factors, and circuit-level alterations on disease progression
The cause is unknown; however, there are a number of known risk factors. Men are 50 percent more likely than women to develop Parkinson’s disease; exposure to pesticides and other toxins increases risk. Head trauma and depression are also thought to increase a person’s chances of developing Parkinson’s disease. A number of recently discovered genetic risk variants are reported to increase a person’s risk as well – these may prove scientifically useful in identifying the underlying mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease.
Although there are some therapies that help with the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, none can address the underlying cause of the disease. Levodopa is a drug that replaces dopamine, the main chemical produced by the neurons that Parkinson’s disease attacks. However, its effect tends to wear off after four to seven years and can cause unwanted side effects. Other drug treatments try to mimic the action of dopamine, protect it from breakdown or preserve motor function through other molecular pathways. And for some people with Parkinson’s disease, surgically implanted electrodes can relieve symptoms.
Because we currently have little understanding of how Parkinson’s disease starts and progresses, the challenge of developing a disease-modifying drug is formidable. Researchers and clinicians lack a reliable diagnostic or biomarkers that can be used to determine whether a candidate drug affects disease progression at a cellular level.
Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) is fostering collaboration and resources to better understand the underlying causes of Parkinson’s disease. With scale, transparency, and open access data sharing, we believe we can accelerate the pace of discovery, and inform the path to a cure.
STAT highlights how The Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) recently discovered how αSyn-SAA could be a novel tool for precision medicine approaches, earlier intervention, and improved clinical trial design for Parkinson’s disease.
Forbes Magazine spotlights the ASAP initiative and the collective effort to accelerate the pace of discovery and inform the path to a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
The updated GP2 Cohort dashboard now includes additional ancestry information across cohort samples that have already been processed and shared with the AMP® PD platform.
Meet the new members of ASAP’s Collaborative Research Network. Multidisciplinary investigators in 21 teams from 60 institutions across 11 countries, seek to accelerate targeted basic research and move us toward more meaningful advancements for Parkinson’s Disease. Get to know these talented scientists, their projects and how their outcomes will contribute to the field of PD.
GP2’s new online learning platform makes development opportunities accessible and enables learners from around the world to explore courses on topics related to Parkinson’s disease genetics and a range of related areas. It is easy to register and available to everyone interested.
Human genetics and epidemiological studies are valuable tools for understanding Parkinson’s disease, but research has found that known genetic factors identified in European populations play an insignificant role in the development of PD in Latinos. LARGE-PD, an ASAP partner and multicenter collaboration across Latin America, is working to increase Latino and Hispanic representation in this field of research. Read GP2’s latest blog post.
We’re enabling science to go further, faster, and at a greater scale. Join us to receive updates.
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s.
With rapid advances in areas like genomics, single-cell technologies, and data analytics, we’re at a tipping point to better understand this devastating disease – but we can’t do it alone.
ASAP builds on the significant strides made by the research community, funders, other experts and strategists around the world. With input across sectors and disciplines, we’ve developed a strategic roadmap to collectively tackle field-wide challenges together.
ASAP is guided by the belief that research outcomes will be improved through the following principles:
Given the multifactorial nature of Parkinson’s disease, charting a new path will require multidisciplinary cooperation from investigators with and without a previous record of PD research.
Philanthropic capital has the most impact in areas that are deemed unpopular, high-risk, or out-of-scope for government funding, requiring creative and thoughtful consideration of research.
As roadmap goals are implemented, we will be responsive to the evolving nature of research and adjust focus as deemed appropriate.
To accelerate research, we’ll support the free flow of data and resources within our collaborative network and make findings available to the broader community.
For the last two years, we’ve engaged more than 100 multidisciplinary experts and strategists to inform our strategic roadmap and thoughtfully guide future investments in scientific discovery.
This meeting brought the ASAP Planning Advisory Council together to kick off the two-year planning process. The Planning Council comprised both PD and non-PD experts from academia, industry, government, and the patient community to guide strategic roadmap development through a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder lens. We focused on candidate scientific themes, as well as opportunities, challenges, and considerations for the path ahead.
James Beck, Parkinson’s Foundation
Patrik Brundin, Van Andel Research Institute (VARI)
Marie-Francoise Chesselet, University of California, Los Angeles
Martin Citron, UCB Pharma
Ted Dawson, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Pietro De Camilli, Yale School of Medicine
David Dexter, Imperial College London
Thomas Gasser, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Magali Haas, Cohen Veterans Bioscience
Karl Kieburtz, University of Rochester Medical Center
Walter Koroshetz, National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke
Kelsey Martin, University of California, Los Angeles
Karoly Nikolich, Alkahest
C. Warren Olanow, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Bernardo Sabatini, Harvard Medical School
Darryle Schoepp, Merck and Company
Todd Sherer, The Micheal J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
Andrew Singleton, National Institute on Aging, NIH
Beth Stevens, Harvard Medical School
David Sulzer, Columbia University Medical Center
This meeting convened the ASAP Planning Advisory Council to discuss a framework by which key knowledge gaps within the candidate scientific themes could be addressed. Strategically, it was recommended that we build on known areas (i.e., candidate scientific themes) by filling in the gaps left by public funding and uncover unknown areas through large, unbiased data collection and analysis.
James Beck, Parkinson’s Foundation
Patrik Brundin, Van Andel Research Institute (VARI)
Marie-Francoise Chesselet, University of California, Los Angeles
Ted Dawson, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
David Dexter, Imperial College London
Thomas Gasser, German Center for Neurodegnerative Diseases
Magali Haas, Cohen Veterans Bioscience
Karl Kieburtz, University of Rochester Medical Center
Walter Koroshetz, National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke
Robert Malenka, Stanford University School of Medicine
Kelsey Martin, University of California, Los Angeles
Karoly Nikolich, Alkahest
C. Warren Olanow, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Bernardo Sabatini, Harvard Medical School
Randy Schekman, University Of California, Berkeley
Darryle Schoepp, Merck and Company
Todd Sherer, The Micheal J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
Andrew Singleton, National Institute on Aging, NIH
David Sulzer, Columbia University Medical Center
Huda Zoghbi, Baylor College of Medicine
We hosted over 100 attendees during this reception held at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. A feature fireside chat between Melissa Stevens of the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy, and George Pavlov of the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, publicly introduced the ASAP initiative to the broader neuroscience community, discussed intent and the role that philanthropy can play to propel discovery, and sought feedback from attendees.
Primed with months of advance preparation in working groups, this international workshop brought together over 70 academic and industry investigators, public and private funders, as well as patients and advocates from across disciplines to design conceptual research programs that addressed a prioritized list of knowledge gaps within the selected scientific themes. A discussion of resource and infrastructure needs was a key component of each program.
Matthew Ackerman, MBA
Dario Alessi, University of Dundee
James Beck, Parkinson’s Foundation
Elizabeth Bradshaw, Columbia University
Latese Briggs, Milken Institute Center For Stragetig Philanthropy
Katja Brose, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)
Patrik Brundin, Van Andel Research Institute (VARI)
Edward Callaway, The Salk Institute
Paul Cannon, 23andMe, Inc.
Honglei Chen, Michigan State University
Joanne Chory, The Salk Institute
Martin Citron, UCB Pharma
Mark Cookson, National Inistitute on Aging (NIA)
Ted Dawson, John Hopkins University School of Medicine
Pietro De Camilli, Yale School of Medicine
Michel Desjardins, University of Montreal
Steve Finkbeiner, University of California San Francisco
Thomas Gasser, German Center of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Viviana Gardinaru, Caltech
Tim Greenamyre, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Magali Haas, Cohen Veterans Bioscience
Erika Holzbaur-Howland, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Elaine Hsiao, University of California, Los Angeles
Anthony Hyman, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
H. Shawn Je, Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School
Kirstie Keller, Milken Institute Center For Strategic Philanthropy
Johnathan Kipnis, University of Virginia Medical School
Jeffrey Kordower, Rush Medical College
Dimitri Krainc, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University
Anatol Kreitzer, University of California, San Francisco
Arnold Kriegstein, University of California, San Francisco
Thomas Kukar, Emory University School of Medicine
Jin Hyung Lee, Stanford University School of Medicine
Shane Liddlelow, New York University Neurosciences Institute
Byungkook Lim, University of California, San Diego
Robert Malenka, Stanford University School of Medicine
Kenneth Marek, Institute of Neurodegenerative Disorders
Kelsey Martin, University of California, Los Angeles
Sarkis Mazmanian, Caltech
Heidi McBride, McGill University
K. Kimberly McCleary, Center of the Milken Institute
Miratul Muqit, University of Dundee
Karoly Nikolich, Alkahest
Alastair Reith, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals
Ekemini Riley, Milken Institute Center of Strategic Philanthropy
Randy Schekman, University of California, Berkeley
Clemens Scherzer, Harvard Medical School
John Siebyl, inviCRO, LLC.
Alessandro Sette, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
Todd Sherer, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
Andrew Singleton, National Insititute on Aging, NIH
Frank Soldner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Benjamin Stecher, Tomorrow Edition Blog
Melissa Stevens, Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy
David Sulzer, Columbia University Medical Center
D. James Surmeier, Northwestern University
Margaret Sutherland, National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS)
Caroline Tanner, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
Malú Tansey, Emory University School of Medicine
Daniel Wesson, University of Florida College of Medicine
Su-Chun Zhang, Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School
This forum sought to cultivate a learning community of peer funders and program leaders in neuroscience to explore ways that we can all work together to address this neurological disease. We discussed funding priorities and gleaned lessons learned to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts.
James Beck, Parkinson’s Foundation
Niranjan Bose, Gates Ventures
Patrick Brannelly, Rainwater Charitable Foundation
Latese Briggs, Milken Institute Center For Strategic Philanthropy
Katja Brose, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)
Rosa Canet-Avilés, Foundation for the NIH
Valerie Conn, Science Philanthropy Alliance
Jonah Cool, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Rick Howitz, Allen Institute for Cell Science
Brett Holleman, Van Andel Research Institute
Ehud Isacoff, University of California, Berkeley
John Lehr, Parkinson’s Foundation
Karoly Nikolich, Alkahest
George Pavlov, Bayshore Global Management
Louis Reichardt, Simons Foundation for Autism Research Initiative (SFARI)
Ekemini Riley, Milken Institute Center For Strategic Philanthropy
Amy Rommel, Rainwater Charitable Foundation
Randy Schekman, University of California, Berkeley
Todd Sherer, The Micheal J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
Thomas Snyder, Verily Life Sciences
Melissa Stevens, Milken Institute Center For Strategic Philanthropy
Margaret Sutherland, National Institute for Neurological Disease and Stroke (NINDS)
Jason Tung, Science Philanthropy Alliance
