Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) Biofluid Biomarkers Program

International funding to broaden the assessment of biomarkers in existing Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) biosamples to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and new treatments.

Established in 2000, the Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF) was set up to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and ensure the development of improved therapies. MJFF, along with scientists and industry partners, launched the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) in 2010. The initiative has created an open-access data set and biosample library to speed up scientific breakthroughs and new treatments.

The purpose of this Request for Applications (RFA) is to engage the research community in broadening the assessment of biomarkers in existing PPMI biosamples. This RFA will support (through the provision of PPMI biosamples and commensurate funding) studies that address the strategic goals of PPMI and facilitate refinement in the biological definition of PD and related disorders prior to and following onset of symptoms.

This funding opportunity will support projects aiming to test biomarkers that have the potential to refine the current definition and staging paradigm of PD via:

• Detection of biological mechanisms from the earliest stages and understanding their relationship to the emergence of aSyn SAA status, dopamine deficiency and other biomarkers and symptom onset.
• Prediction of progression of biomarker and clinical (motor, cognition and other) outcomes of PD.
• Correlation of progression of biomarker and clinical (motor, cognition and other) outcomes of PD.
• Identification of biologically defined subsets of PD participants.
• Detection of pathogenic/pathophysiologic mechanisms in PD cases without evidence of asyn aggregates (ex. aSyn SAA negative LRRK2 PD) or non-neuronal forms of parkinsonism such as multiple system atrophy.

To be considered for funding, the biomarker assay must satisfy one or more of the criteria above, be analytically validated, and deployable in existing PPMI biosamples.

The following work in PPMI biosamples will be supported:

• Quantitative, known biomarkers of neurodegeneration (ex. amyloid, tau, TDP-43, NfL) in existing biofluids.
• Biomarker discovery using targeted, multiplexed panels (excluding proteomics, which is well covered already in PPMI).
• Pathway focused biomarkers (ex. mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysfunction/inflammation, endolysosomal dysfunction) to support biological subtyping.
• aSyn pathology biomarkers with priority to those that are quantitative.

When considering proposals submitted to this program, MJFF will prioritise those that:

• Situate the proposed molecular bioassay analysis within the breadth of existing PPMI clinical, imaging, genetic and other molecular data.
• Establish a clear link to at least one of the strategic goals.
• Evaluate the proposed biomarker for a specific context of use.

Projects funded through this scheme will be established as collaborations between the awardee and PPMI. All biosample/funding recipients must abide by PPMI’s open data principles by depositing data into its publicly accessible database.