Celebrating the Collaborative ASAP Community Through Art&Science
Celebrating the Collaborative ASAP Community Through Art&Science
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Celebrating the Collaborative ASAP Community Through Art&Science

Author(s)
  • ASAP
    Project Manager

    Dorotea Fracchiolla, PhD

    Max Planck Institute of Biophysics | Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Dr. Dorotea Fracchiolla is a scientist and Project Manager for Team Hurley and an enthusiastic scientific illustrator. In 2020 she founded her independent activity as scientific illustrator under the name of Art&Science. Since then she has been involved in a variety of projects aimed at representing science by images through the means of art, making it available to both experts and the general public. She has showcased her work at art exhibitions in Austria and Germany, designed cover artwork selected by several journals, and is actively organizing hands-on workshops to introduce children and the general public to science.

  • ASAP
    Senior Program Officer

    Devin Snyder, PhD

    Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP) | Coalition for Aligning Science (CAS) |

    Dr. Devin Snyder is a Senior Program Officer at the Coalition for Aligning Science (CAS) and Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP), an initiative designed to accelerate the pace of discovery for Parkinson’s disease through collaboration, resource generation, and data sharing. In her role, Dr. Snyder conducts due diligence assessments of the state of the field to identify knowledge gaps and craft recommendation documents with actionable solutions for filling those gaps. She is passionate about effectively sharing knowledge with scientific and lay audiences. As such, Dr. Snyder utilizes her knowledge base to design resources for members of CAS-managed programs while also managing strategies for communicating information about CAS initiatives with external audiences. Prior to joining CAS, Dr. Snyder served as a project manager for a multidisciplinary, cross-institutional research team funded by ASAP. Successful management of this highly collaborative effort relied on a thorough understanding of project scope, timeline, budget, and deliverables while maintaining open communication with all team members and stakeholders. Dr. Snyder earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Point Loma Nazarene University and a doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) School of Medicine.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) was first described in 1817, over 200 years ago. Over the last few decades, significant findings have deepened our understanding of the disease. However, despite the advances, knowledge gaps remain.

The Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative is focused on filling those knowledge gaps by accelerating discoveries for PD through collaboration, generation of research-enabling resources, and data sharing. Since its inception, ASAP has been committed to changing the way that science is done by encouraging researchers to break down scientific silos and work together to tackle challenges so that scientific understanding within the PD field might continue to advance.  

To celebrate the collaborative nature of the ASAP initiative, Dr. Dorotea Fracchiolla (Team Hurley | Founder of Art&Science) created a painting triptych. Each of the paintings portrays a representation of the human brain, with a thread that weaves its way throughout the two halves of the brain. The thread begins in the top half of the brain. Viewers will notice that the thread contains knots that run through the brain gyri, representing the protein aggregates of alpha-synuclein that characterize the brains of PD patients. As viewers follow the thread, they’ll notice that the thread is actively being pulled out of the organ by a team of enthusiastic researchers who are working together to disentangle it. The other half of the brain contains additional researchers, who work to channel the thread through the only possible way out – the path that is illuminated by scientific research. As the thread makes its way out of the brain, it extends to the ASAP logo, symbolizing the role that ASAP plays in facilitating collaboration and knowledge-sharing.  

These paintings feature three members of ASAP Leadership: Dr. Ekemini Riley (Managing Director), Dr. Randy Schekman (Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board), and Dr. Sonya Dumanis (Deputy Director). Drs. Riley, Schekman, and Dumanis represent all ASAP staff, who are deeply committed to ASAP’s mission and to changing the culture of science through promoting collaboration, resource generation, and data sharing. 

Photo credit to Aura Studio.

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