Parkinson’s research opportunities from the Michael J. Fox Foundation

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has three funding opportunities with upcoming deadlines: Alpha-Synuclien Therapeutics, Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers of Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) Activity, and Novel Hypotheses in Parkinson’s Disease.  Faculty with appropriate experience are eligible; post-doctoral fellows and students are not eligible.

• Alpha-Synuclien Therapeutics – This opportunity promotes the development and testing of therapies for Parkinson’s disease (PD) that target alpha-synuclein and/or Lewy body-related pathology. The MJFF seeks proposals that will include in vivo testing (animal or human) of alpha-synuclein based therapies. Successful awards will be a therapeutic or series of therapeutics primed for final pre-clinical studies, first-in-man human clinical studies, or additional phases of clinical testing. Pre-proposals (required) are due April 28, 2010, and full applications (by invitation only) are due July 6, 2010. The amount of the award varies – See full announcement for more information.

• Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers of Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) Activity – This opportunity is to facilitate development of pharmacodynamic biomarkers of LRRK2 activity that can inform potential clinical trials of promising therapeutic strategies for PD. The MJFF prefers proposals seeking to verify and validate promising, pre-defined candidate LRRK2-associated biomarkers in appropriate non-human or human biological samples. Proposals to discover novel LRRK2-associated biomarkers utilizing unbiased screening methods (e.g., expression profiling) may also be considered. Pre-proposals (required) are due April 28, 2010, and full applications (by invitation only) are due July 6, 2010. Award recipients will receive up to $400,000 total for two years.

• Novel Hypotheses in Parkinson’s Disease – The goal of this opportunityimprove understanding of PD disease course and gain critical information necessary for advancing therapeutic development. Investigators can collaborate with others from the Arizona Parkinson’s Disease Consortium (APDC) to utilize the unique, well-characterized postmortem tissue and clinical data. This resource encompasses a longitudinal, community-based study of cognition, motor function and the brain in normal elderly persons and in those with neurodegenerative diseases. Investigators funded through this program will gain access to clinical data and tissue collected through the Banner Sun Health Research Institute’s Brain & Body Donation Program (BBDP). See full announcement for a list of studies appropriate for this opportunity. Experimental summaries (required) are due April 28, 2010, and  full applications (by invitation only) are due July 13, 2010. Funding is for a one year period; the amount of the award varies – See full announcement for more information.

Applications for all three awards may be submitted by U.S. and non-U.S. entities, as well as not-for-profit and corporate entities. Post-doctoral students or fellows are not eligible to apply. If interested in applying, please remember to submit and OHSU Foundation Proposal Tracking and Clearance Form.

See all of this week’s Funding Alerts.