COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH NETWORK 2025

The initiative Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP), managed by Coalition for Aligning Science (CAS) and implemented by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) invites collaborative teams to submit applications to join the ASAP Collaborative Research Network (CRN), an international, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional network of research teams working on high-priority issues to advance the understanding of Parkinson's disease and drive new ideas in the R&D pipeline.

The call will consider applications that focus on analyzing the mechanisms that contribute to the heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease. All applications must fall into one of the following areas:

• Aging: Impact of biological processes of aging on the pathogenesis and progression of Parkinson's disease.
• Co-pathologies: Influence of coexisting diseases such as Alzheimer's on the progression of Parkinson's.
• Environmental factors: Mechanisms through which toxins and other environmental factors contribute to the development of disease.
• Circuit biology: Study of neuronal circuits responsible for clinical symptoms, especially non-motor ones.
• Purification mechanisms: Role of cellular elimination mechanisms in Parkinson's.
• Alpha-synuclein seeding: Factors influencing alpha-synuclein seed amplification.

Proposals must be linked to human biology, which means the project must demonstrate the relevance of the biological findings to Parkinson's disease in humans. This can be demonstrated through:

• Generating hypotheses about disease biology using human data (e.g., genetic, clinical, biomarkers).
• Evaluation and validation of biological/mechanistic hypotheses in human biological samples.
• Using models relevant to human PD to improve the translation of biological hypotheses.

Requirements

• The proposed team must be composed of academic research institutions, whether public or private. They must be able to provide the resources and environment necessary for the development of the project, with a clear multidisciplinary focus. Participating institutions must be able to collaborate with international teams and contribute their expertise to the project.
• The proposed team's Leadership Group should consist of a Coordinating Principal Investigator and between two and four additional Co-Investigators.
• Leadership Group members must be employed at a Lead Institution, with the possibility of including up to four subcontracted institutions.
• At least one Co-Investigator of the Leadership Group must be an early-stage investigator, with a track record of between one and seven years from their first independent appointment (between January 1, 2019, and January 1, 2025).
• The team as a whole must represent at least two different scientific disciplines.
• Each member of the Leadership Group must hold a doctoral degree, such as a PhD, MD, or equivalent degree.
• The Coordinating Principal Investigator must hold an academic appointment and an independent faculty position or equivalent. Applicants from the private sector must hold a Senior Scientist position or equivalent.
• All Leadership Group Co-Investigators must hold an independent faculty position or equivalent. Applicants from the private sector must hold a Senior Scientist position or equivalent.

Application

Applicants will need to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) through The Michael J. Fox Foundation's Grant Portal, of a maximum of 5 pages, using template available on the web.

The application process consists of three stages: the letter of intent, the full proposal, and finally a virtual interview.

Deadline: March 20, 2025.