Objective:
The Michael J. Fox Foundation seeks applications with the potential to develop new/better biomarkers for measuring pathway function or dysfunction that can support therapeutic development for affected pathways in Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Currently, many efforts are focusing on understanding the role of various cellular processes/pathways in PD and uncovering novel targets within these pathways for therapeutic development. As such, sensitive biomarker readouts for these pathways will be critical for bridging the gap from basic to translational research and clinical trials. The Parkinson’s Pathway Biomarkers program is open to industry and academic investigators proposing studies in aimed at (1) developing sensitive readouts for pathway activation/dysfunction and (2) improving technologies for analyzing the target/pathway of interest.
What Fits
Applications should focus on studies in one or more of the following areas:
- Biomarker studies focusing on pathways that are known to be affected in PD (e.g.,inflammation, mitochondrial function, lysosomal function, autophagy, protein trafficking, protein handling).
- Studies developing novel pathway-based outcome measures or biochemical assays for PD.
- Studies optimizing existing assays to assess PD-related pathways or pathway-based targets.
- Studies investigating translational biomarkers that can be assessed in preclinical models as well as patient samples.
Proposals for this program should focus on the development of biomarkers for pathways/targets with established relevance to PD. Studies interested in discovery work identifying new targets in patient biosamples or validating the PD-relevance of targets identified in preclinical models should apply to the open Target Advancement Program.
Informational Webinar
Watch our informational webinar on-demand to learn more about our Foundation's funding strategy and opportunities, and the application and review processes. View Now.
Application Process
1. Download RFA and application templates.
2. Log in or create account in the grant application portal.
3. Submit your completed application.
Please note we made changes to our publication and indirect costs policies in early 2020. Review the updated Application Guidelines and the new open access publication policy for complete details. Contact grants@michaeljfox.org with questions about the RFA, application process or these policies.