Leaders in Parkinson’s Research Encouraged to Explore MJFF Collaboration

Annual 17th Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Conference

In an expansion of its flagship scientific event, The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) hosted a Partnering Session on October 15, 2025, bringing together more than 170 researchers and industry professionals for the 17th annual Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Conference (PDTC).

Held the day before the main conference, this gathering offered attendees a unique opportunity to engage directly with MJFF program leaders, learn about Foundation-led initiatives and how to get involved with our work. Designed to complement PDTC - the world's only scientific conference focused solely on Parkinson's disease drug discovery - the event aimed to deepen connections between MJFF and the field.

Since its inception, PDTC has evolved into a dynamic forum for showcasing cutting-edge research, including new and unpublished findings from MJFF's portfolio. The added session marks a step forward in the Foundation's mission to drive therapeutic innovation by fostering strategic collaboration and resource sharing. Speakers called attention to MJFF endeavors intended to help accelerate urgently needed therapies through clearer disease diagnosis, better treatment pipelines, faster clinical trials and a catalyzed Parkinson's community.

"Stay connected with us, learn about the work we're doing and all of the opportunities that are out there," said MJFF chief scientist Brian Fiske, PhD. "Because we need all of you working to help people with Parkinson's everywhere."

De-Risking Science to Drive Therapeutic Development 

A highlight of the event was a panel moderated by Shalini Padmanabhan, PhD, MJFF's head of translational research, which was focused on the Foundation's de-risking strategy for incentivizing development of better treatments - an approach that has paved the way for groundbreaking developments in Parkinson's research. 

Bringing a new therapies to market is a lengthy, expensive and unpredictable process. MJFF has long prioritized funding promising, early-stage investigations to make them more attractive and less risky for pharmaceutical companies and investors. By championing novel ideas and enabling the generation of critical data, the Foundation helps reduce uncertainty and transforms bold scientific concepts into fundable opportunities - laying the groundwork for larger-scale investment.

Panelist Stacie Weninger, PhD, a partner at venture capital firm F-Prime, emphasized the importance of MJFF's role amid today's challenging landscape for early-stage scientific investment.

"Organizations like MJFF are more important than ever," she said. "There are so many breakthroughs in our understanding of Parkinson's, and the ability to affect this disease feels tantalizingly close. So, it's time to double down - it's not time to run away."

The panel showcased two recently launched MJFF programs that exemplify this de-risking approach. The Targets to Therapies Initiative seeks to expand the number of druggable biological targets in the Parkinson's pipeline. Panelists described how the Foundation convened a brain trust of Parkinson's scientists, industry experts and investors to evaluate 290 promising candidates for drug development.

Within nine months, the consortium narrowed that list down to 21 high-priority targets for exploration over three years. In the first year of the program, plans have already been developed to test and confirm the safety and effectiveness of the first five priority targets. An additional seven were identified for the next round of study, with Dr. Padmanabhan encouraging attendees interested in investigating those targets to contact MJFF.

Another featured program, the LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE), is a global initiative to advance therapies targeting LRRK2, a gene linked to inherited Parkinson's. Over three years, LITE will evaluate multiple treatment strategies and biomarkers with the potential to benefit a broader Parkinson's population and lead to disease-modifying interventions.

Biotech company Montara Therapeutics, one of the first companies to join LITE, is developing an inhibitor that specifically targets LRRK2 in the brain while reducing any impact on other parts of the body. Not only did MJFF provide key funding for this research, Montara founder and CEO Nicholas T. Hertz, PhD, noted that the LITE program connected his team with leading scientific advisors from across the world who have supplied critical data and guidance to help push their work forward.

Efforts to Accelerate Clinical Development

A second panel touched on MJFF-supported tools and resources designed to help researchers expedite their preclinical work and early-stage clinical trials. Chief among these is the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), an international study launched in 2010 that has become the most comprehensive shared data and biospecimen library in Parkinson's research.

With contributions from over 4,000 clinical volunteers and 46,000 online participants, PPMI has assisted more than 300 PD research studies and played a pivotal role in validating the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay (SAA) - a biomarker test that can detect Parkinson's in spinal fluid before symptoms appear.

PPMI principal investigator Kenneth Marek, MD, pointed out that this breakthrough is just the beginning. "We need to now move forward and identify other biomarkers that may give us new insights into how a disease begins and how it progresses," he said. "That's really the charge for the next 15 years."

A Strategic Step Forward

MJFF's additional conference event reflects an expansion of its efforts to connect researchers and industry leaders with the tools, funding and insights needed to advance Parkinson's drug discovery. By creating a focused environment for scientific exchange and resource sharing, the Foundation is deepening its commitment to delivering better therapies faster for the millions of patients and families living with Parkinson's today.

• Heather Salerno

  Senior Science Writer