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This study will be conducted at 32 PPMI sites worldwide, and is currently seeking volunteers over the age of 60 who do not have Parkinson’s disease (PD) to participate. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is the sponsor and a co-funder of PPMI, a $60 million study. In addition to funds committed to PPMI, MJFF has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association and The W. Garfield Weston Foundation to fund additional analysis of data from PPMI and its Alzheimer’s counterpart, ADNI.
PPMI aims to identify biomarkers of PD, even those that may be detected before the onset of motor symptoms. Identifying these early biomarkers, or risk factors, could ultimately help doctors diagnose and treat the disease earlier. Loss of sense of smell, for example, is a common but little-noticed symptom that may occur years before the onset of motor symptoms or a PD diagnosis.
You may already know that Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease and is joined in this category by other diseases such as Parkinson’s. Today, researchers are finding that these conditions share some of the same underlying biology. That’s why we are excited to share with you the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), a trial that is focused on Parkinson’s, but is directly contributing to understanding all neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer’s disease.
The University of Washington/Puget Sound Health Care System
1959 N.E. Pacific St.
Seattle WA 98195
United States