The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) launched its Clinician Advisory Community in early 2025, bringing together physicians, advanced practice providers and allied health professionals from all over the United States to improve the link between research and care.
Parkinson’s research continues to produce new therapies; there have been a several approvals for Parkinson’s disease (PD) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just in the last year (Crexont, Vyalev, Onapgo and an adaptive DBS system from Medtronic). Clinicians play a crucial role in getting those treatments into the hands of patients, making them a key stakeholder in PD care. Clinicians help people with Parkinson’s disease with everything from movement symptoms to mood, and that work gives them a unique perspective on ways to better care for the Parkinson’s community.
MJFF set out to engage these clinicians to share their wealth of knowledge and inform Foundation activities, including research funding and recruitment, policy and education. However, with everything asked of clinicians in the current care landscape, finding time with them can be difficult.
That’s why MJFF endeavored to create a low-commitment, high-impact opportunity for clinicians to participate in a nationwide group. The Foundation set up this survey-ready community that could be tapped several times a year to provide frontline intelligence on the latest in Parkinson’s care.
The Importance of Clinician Input
On top of previously mentioned FDA approvals, research advancements continue to offer new ways to enhance care for people with Parkinson’s disease.
For example, in 2023, researchers validated a biomarker tool called the alpha-synuclein seeding amplification assay (SAA). This tool can detect the biology most closely associated with Parkinson’s disease, even years before symptoms begin. As advances like this make their way into the clinic, it’s important to understand what they can and can’t do for people with Parkinson’s, as well as the circumstances around how they are used.
Engaged clinicians can provide a piece of that puzzle, complete with nuances that are difficult to obtain from people with Parkinson’s alone—as the Parkinson’s experience is so different from individual to individual.
How the Clinician Advisory Community Works
MJFF put out the call looking for clinicians in the United State who treat people with Parkinson’s and spend most of their professional time on clinical care. In March 2025, the community welcomed 75 members who treat patients from a variety of races, ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Movement disorder specialists (MDS) make up nearly half of the group with the other half including non-MDS physicians (primary care physicians, for example), advanced practice providers (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) and allied health care professionals (including physical therapists and speech-language pathologists).
When asked why they wanted to join the community, the top reasons were bridging the research–care gap and improving care quality and access.
The community will be called upon several times a year to answer five- to 10-minute surveys covering a variety of topics related to their clinical practice.
What Clinicians Can Provide
One benefit of the community is the breadth of topics we can cover—everything from how gait challenges present to the ways people with Parkinson’s find actively recruiting research studies.
The first survey asked about what clinicians consider when deciding whether and when to refer patients to research studies. These studies rely on community participation, and understanding how to get the right people to the right studies goes a long way toward progress. MJFF is crunching the numbers currently to generate results that will guide patient recruitment efforts.
MJFF will issue several more surveys over the course of the year. The second will address how clinicians talk about, assess and assist with Parkinson’s gait issues (trouble with walking), which can be challenging symptoms to treat.
Clinicians offer a unique and complementary perspective on what might improve the care and lives of people with Parkinson’s. Collecting their thoughts can contribute to a healthy research ecosystem and, potentially, better health outcomes. The Clinician Advisory Community offers timely frontline intelligence to The Michael J. Fox Foundation, helping move Parkinson’s research and care forward.
If you’re interested in joining the Clinician Advisory Community, please fill out our Initial Interest Form.