Highlights of Current MJFF Investments

Here are selected highlights of recent MJFF investments toward better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease.

Our investments typically fall into one of two categories:

• Research exploring specific therapeutic approaches, where our input is likely to push prospective targets or therapies to the next stage of development.
• Research to develop tools and resources, where our input can provide clarity or information required to speed the creation of new treatments and/or advance the field.

07/23/2010 - Highlights of 2009 MJFF Investments toward Transformative Treatments and a Cure for Parkinson's Disease

In 2009, with the support of more than 56,000 individuals, corporations and foundations, The Michael J. Fox Foundation continued to invest where we saw potential to drive progress forward, pushing ourselves and our partners to ever-greater heights in pursuit of transformative treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s disease.

Against an uncertain economic backdrop, we funded over $39 million in targeted Parkinson’s research — the most we’ve ever funded in one year — bringing our total research investments at year-end to nearly $170 million. Yet those who know us know our core belief is that ending Parkinson’s is not merely about spending more money, but about spending that money with impact. Last year we expanded our emphasis on critical research tools and patients’ unmet needs while continuing to drive key next steps on top therapeutic targets.

Sitting at the hub of global PD research, our job is to act urgently and strategically to dismantle roadblocks and streamline the path to a cure. We talk — and listen — to the world’s most prominent Parkinson’s scientists from academic and industry labs about what they need and where new opportunities lie. Our staff, which includes both scientific PhDs and business-trained project managers, continually surveys a wide and complex field in order to prioritize the projects most needed to accelerate new therapies. We work to see the big picture, then invest our capital with one return in mind: speeding scientific solutions to the nearly five million people living with Parkinson’s worldwide.

As Canada’s Globe and Mail reported in September, our aggressive, entrepreneurial approach to science lies at the heart of our mission to find a cure for Parkinson’s — and, in the process, to reshape the way medical research gets done. 2009 highlights include:

--Investing over $11 million in biomarker development (bringing total funding in this area to over $25 million) and laying the groundwork to sponsor the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), a landmark biomarker study launching in 2010. (Learn more about it at michaeljfox.org/PPMI.)

--Allocating over $3 million to pre-clinical models, including a grant to speed a cutting-edge gene knockout technology into Parkinson’s therapeutic development within months of its advent. The technology was later named one of the top 10 scientific innovations of the year by The Scientist.

--Initiating a $1-million clinical trial to establish a framework for the development of effective treatments for dyskinesia, the debilitating side effect of long-term dopamine replacement therapy.

--With lead support from The Edmond J. Safra Foundation, awarding $2 million to drive development of treatment approaches for postural instability and gait disorder (PIGD), a troubling constellation of symptoms that are poorly understood and respond inconsistently or not at all to dopamine replacement therapies.

--With lead support from the Brin Wojcicki Foundation, executing an integrated, multi-million-dollar strategy to advance biological understanding of LRRK2, the single greatest known genetic contributor to Parkinson’s disease, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for effective LRRK2 clinical trials in the future.

--Launching PD Online Research (pdonlineresearch.org), a Web-based platform for research professionals to engage daily on key research hurdles and new findings. So far, nearly 2,000 Parkinson’s researchers at all levels and from all over the world have become members.

We invite you to read more about these investments, and the potential we see in them to change the face of Parkinson’s drug development, throughout michaeljfox.org.

Of course, effecting meaningful change in how new treatments are developed requires thoughtful strategies for engaging not only scientists but also patients and caregivers, policymakers and other research funders. That’s why in 2009 we also focused on building and deepening our relationships and collaborations in every sector of the PD community. We chartered a Patient Council to provide input on our programmatic activities from the critical perspective of those living with the disease. Our new Leadership Council is made up of generous advisors who provide leadership financial support and strategic insight about how we can more effectively engage new audiences to advance progress. And Team Fox, our grassroots fundraising network, continued to inspire and unite communities across the country in passionate pursuit of a cure.

Your dedication allows us to keep taking the risks that patients and their loved ones want taken in service of accelerating therapeutic breakthroughs. Our gratitude to you is as clear and strong as our vision of a world without PD.