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The Parkinson Study Group (PSG) has funding available for investigators seeking initial support for Parkinson’s disease research. Candidates propose a hypothesis driven, one year research plan for a retrospective data-mining research project in Parkinson’s disease using PSG databases. Funds have been provided by the Parkinson’s Foundation to the PSG to support retrospective data-mining projects.
Please note: The PSG may have funding to cover 12-month datamining or planning projects. Funds have been provided by the Parkinson’s Foundation. More details can be found on the RFP (click here to download).
2019-2020
Gregory Pontone, MS, MHS and Jared Hinkle, Johns Hopkins University, were awarded $12,500 to study “Phenotypic and Prognostic Significance of Panic Disorder in PD”.
2018-2019
Peter LeWitt, MD, Henry Ford W Bloomfield Hospital, W. Bloomfield, MI was awarded $30,000 to study “Polyamine Biomarkers of PD Progression”.
2017-2018
Ruth Schneider, MD, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, was awarded $31,653 to study “Early vs Delayed Initiation of Dopaminergic Treatment in PD”.
2015-2016
Anne-Marie Wills, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA was awarded $22,950 to study “Body Mass Index and PD Survival”.
Click on any red project title to download the abstract.
October 2014
Rachel Biemiller, MD, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY was awarded $25,000 to study “PD phenotype and response to dopaminergic therapy: a secondary analysis of the CALM-PD trial”.
December 2013
Connie Marras, MD, PhD and Genetics/Environmental Risk Working Group was awarded $11,000 to study “The PSG PD Risk Factor Data Inventory: Developing a resource to facilitate data-mining studies”.
Ivan Bodis Wollner, MD, DSc, Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Director, Parkinson Disease Clinic, Kings County Hospital Center and Attending Neurologist, SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, New York, was awarded $14,000 to study “The relationship between levodopa therapy and inner retinal layer thickness by OCT in patients with PD”.
December 2012
Elizabeth L. Stegemoller, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurobiomechanics Laboratory, Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, Gainesville, Florida was awarded a $24,995.18 grant supported by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her planning project entitled “Effects of Singing on Speech and Swallowing in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease”.
February 2012 Ivan Bodis-Wollner, MD, DSc, Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Director, Parkinson Disease Clinic, Kings County Hospital Center and Attending Neurologist, State University of New York – Health Science Center at Brooklyn, New York, was awarded a $9,930 grant supported by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his planning project entitled “Synucleinopathy of the retina in Parkinson disease”.
Click on any red project title to download the abstract.
October 2011
Peter LeWitt, MD, Wayne State University, Director, Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Program, Michigan, was awarded a $12,559 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “COMT met genotype polymorphism and cognitive performance in PD with and without selegiline treatment”.
September 2010
Matthew Menza, MD, Professor, Psychiatry & Neurology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Jersey, was awarded a $9,200 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “An Exploration of the Association of Inflammatory Cytokines and the Non-Motor Symptoms of PD in Patients in DATATOP”.
February 2010
Un Jung Kang, MD, Professor of Neurology, University of Chicago Medical Center, was awarded a $7,600 grant from the PSG and Parkison’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “The role of motor learning in dopaminergic therapy of PD”.
October 2009
Xuemei Huang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, was awarded a $13,200 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her datamining project entitled “Serum cholesterol level as a predictor of progression in PD”. Dr. Huang will be working with Honglei Chen of NIEHS and co-investigator’s Alberto Ascherio of Harvard School of Public Health and Michael Schwarzschild or Harvard Medical School.
February 2009
Timothy J. Collier, PhD, Professor of Neurology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Antidepressant Induced Delay of Motor Symptoms in PD (AIDS-PD)”. The co-investigator, Katrina Paumier, BS, is a PhD candidate under Dr. Collier’s direction. This project will be coordinated with the PSG Genetics and Environmental Working Group funded project on “Impact of commonly-prescribed medications on PD progression” led by Andrew Siderowf, MD, MSCE.
Click on any red project title to download the abstract.
October 2008
Robert A. Hauser, MD, Professor of Neurology, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the University of South Florida, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Determination of Minimally Clinically Important Change in Early and Advanced Parkinson’s Disease”. Peggy Auinger, MS is co-PI on the project.
May 2008
Marian Evatt, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Emory University and Assistant Director of the Movement Disorders Program at Wesley Woods Hospital, Atlanta, GA, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her datamining project entitled “Vitamin D Insufficiency: Prevalence and Clinical Correlates in the DATATOP Cohort”. Vin Tangpricha, MD, PhD and Mahlon R. Delong, MD serve as co-PIs on the project.
October 2007
Ergun Uc, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology at Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Weight loss in Parkinson’s disease”. This was a collective effort of the PSG Other Non-Motor Features of PD Working Group with Carlos Singer, MD, Jay Rao, MD, and David Oakes, PhD as co-investigators.
Connie Marras, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor at Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto Movement Disorders Centre, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her planning project entitled “Environmental exposures modifying clinical expression of LRRK2-associated Parkinson’s disease”. Caroline Tanner, MD, PhD and Anthony Lang, MD serve as co-PIs on the project.
July 2007
Jing Zhang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology, Shaw Endowed Professorship in Neuropathology Division of Neuropathology Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining research proposal entitled “Using human cerebrospinal fluid samples collected in DATATOP study for biomarker discovery in patients with Parkinson’s disease”. This was a collective effort of the PSG Biomarkers Working Group. Un Jung Kang, MD will be an active participant and advisor on this project. Michael McDermott, PhD will provide statistical support.
June 2007
Michael Schwarzschild, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, at Harvard Medical School, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Predicting PD Progression Subtypes by CSF Urate Pathways”. Alberto Ascherio, MD, PhD serves as co-PI on the project.
February 2007
Ergun Uc, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, of the Divisions of Movement Disorders & Neuroergonomics, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinic, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Predictors and Course of Cognitive Decline and Depression Early in the Course of PD based on the DATATOP Cohort”.This was a collective effort of the PSG Cognitive/Psychiatric Working Group with John Growdon, Kelvin Chou, Karen Marder, Irene Litvan, Michel Panisset, Steve Anderson, and Peter Como all as co-investigators. Michael McDermott, PhD is the statistical co-PI.
The PSG MCRA is for new investigators in patient-oriented research in Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.
The Mentored Clinical Research Award (MCRA) for new investigators is funded by a grant from the Parkinson’s Foundation (PF) to the Parkinson Study Group (PSG). The PF collaborates with the PSG to encourage the professional and scientific development of young investigators on their path to independence. To this end, this grant supports a new investigator for a one year project in patient oriented research in Parkinson disease (PD) or other parkinsonian disorders. The new investigator works under the mentorship of an experienced investigator. Training should enhance the junior clinical research skills. The research plan should address unmet needs of people living with PD, have the potential for broad application among the PD community, and lead to advances in clinically relevant treatment options.
Award Timeline: Closed for 2020.
Click on any red project title to download the abstract.
2020
Lan Luo, M.D., M.S., Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology. Dr. Luo will evaluate “Understanding Neural Networks of Freezing of Gait.”
2019
Ali G. Hamedani, M.D., M.H.S., Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Hamedani will evaluate “Visual symptoms and quality of life in Parkinson’s disease.”
Delaram Safarpour, M.D., M.S.C.E., Assistant professor of Neurology, OHSU Parkinson Center & Movement Disorders Program. Dr. Safarpour will evaluate “Comparison of GI transit time in levodopa-responders and non-responders in patients with Parkinson’s disease.”
2018
Emily J. Hill, MD, fellow in the Parkinson’s Disease Center and Movement Disorders Program at the Baylor College of Medicine: “Genetic dissection of clinical heterogeneity in Parkinson disease.” Dr. Hill will evaluate clinic-based, quantitative mobility measures using a wearable sensor in comparison with standard clinic assessment for characteriza.
2017
Matthew N. Petrucci, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Neurology at the University of Minnesota: “Automated closed-looped algorithm to rapidly optimize deep brain stimulation settings for people with PD.” Dr. Petrucci will evaluate an automated closed-looped algorithm to rapidly optimize deep brain stimulation settings for people with PD.
2016
Baijayanta Maiti, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri: “Cerebellar morphologic and functional MRI measures as a biomarker of cognitive impairment in PD.” Dr. Maiti will explore the pathophysiologic role of cerebellum in cognitive impairment in PD utilizing resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) measures and their behavioral correlates. The preliminary data generated from this study served as the basis of a successful AAN CRTF award application to investigate the role of cerebellar vermis in gait and cognitive impairments in PD. The future goal is to utilize multimodal imaging techniques including PET and rs-fcMRI to study the pathophysiologic role of cerebellum in PD as an extension of the ongoing study.
2015
Tiago Mestre, MD, MSc, Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Centre, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: “Comparative evaluation of data-driven PD subtypes for clinical research”.
2014
Robert White, MD, PhD, Clinical Instructor, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco: “A functional MRI study of dopamine’s effects on the stability and flexibility of working memory in Parkinson disease”.
PSG DATATOP biospecimens research: Projects requiring access to the DATATOP biospecimen repository a separate proposal review and funding mechanism has been developed in collaboration with The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) and the NINDS Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP) and supports the identification and validation of novel biomarkers through use of DATATOP biospecimens.
Click on any red project title to download the abstract.
June 2015
Anne-Marie Wills, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA was awarded $22,950 to study “Body Mass Index and PD Survival”.
October 2014
Rachel Biemiller, MD, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY was awarded $25,000 to study “PD phenotype and response to dopaminergic therapy: a secondary analysis of the CALM-PD trial”.
December 2013
Connie Marras, MD, PhD and Genetics/Environmental Risk Working Group was awarded $11,000 to study “The PSG PD Risk Factor Data Inventory: Developing a resource to facilitate data-mining studies”.
Ivan Bodis Wollner, MD, DSc, Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Director, Parkinson Disease Clinic, Kings County Hospital Center and Attending Neurologist, SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn, New York, was awarded $14,000 to study “The relationship between levodopa therapy and inner retinal layer thickness by OCT in patients with PD”.
December 2012
Elizabeth L. Stegemoller, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Neurobiomechanics Laboratory, Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, Gainesville, Florida was awarded a $24,995.18 grant supported by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her planning project entitled “Effects of Singing on Speech and Swallowing in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease”.
February 2012
Ivan Bodis-Wollner, MD, DSc, Professor of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Director, Parkinson Disease Clinic, Kings County Hospital Center and Attending Neurologist, State University of New York – Health Science Center at Brooklyn, New York, was awarded a $9,930 grant supported by the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his planning project entitled “Synucleinopathy of the retina in Parkinson disease”.
Click on any red project title to download the abstract.
October 2011
Peter LeWitt, MD, Wayne State University, Director, Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Program, Michigan, was awarded a $12,559 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “COMT met genotype polymorphism and cognitive performance in PD with and without selegiline treatment”.
September 2010
Matthew Menza, MD, Professor, Psychiatry & Neurology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Jersey, was awarded a $9,200 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “An Exploration of the Association of Inflammatory Cytokines and the Non-Motor Symptoms of PD in Patients in DATATOP”.
February 2010
Un Jung Kang, MD, Professor of Neurology, University of Chicago Medical Center, was awarded a $7,600 grant from the PSG and Parkison’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “The role of motor learning in dopaminergic therapy of PD”.
October 2009
Xuemei Huang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, was awarded a $13,200 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her datamining project entitled “Serum cholesterol level as a predictor of progression in PD”. Dr. Huang will be working with Honglei Chen of NIEHS and co-investigator’s Alberto Ascherio of Harvard School of Public Health and Michael Schwarzschild or Harvard Medical School.
February 2009
Timothy J. Collier, PhD, Professor of Neurology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Antidepressant Induced Delay of Motor Symptoms in PD (AIDS-PD)”. The co-investigator, Katrina Paumier, BS, is a PhD candidate under Dr. Collier’s direction. This project will be coordinated with the PSG Genetics and Environmental Working Group funded project on “Impact of commonly-prescribed medications on PD progression” led by Andrew Siderowf, MD, MSCE.
Click on any red project title to download the abstract.
October 2008
Robert A. Hauser, MD, Professor of Neurology, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the University of South Florida, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Determination of Minimally Clinically Important Change in Early and Advanced Parkinson’s Disease”. Peggy Auinger, MS is co-PI on the project.
May 2008
Marian Evatt, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Emory University and Assistant Director of the Movement Disorders Program at Wesley Woods Hospital, Atlanta, GA, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her datamining project entitled “Vitamin D Insufficiency: Prevalence and Clinical Correlates in the DATATOP Cohort”. Vin Tangpricha, MD, PhD and Mahlon R. Delong, MD serve as co-PIs on the project.
October 2007
Ergun Uc, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology at Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Weight loss in Parkinson’s disease”. This was a collective effort of the PSG Other Non-Motor Features of PD Working Group with Carlos Singer, MD, Jay Rao, MD, and David Oakes, PhD as co-investigators.
Connie Marras, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor at Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto Movement Disorders Centre, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for her planning project entitled “Environmental exposures modifying clinical expression of LRRK2-associated Parkinson’s disease”. Caroline Tanner, MD, PhD and Anthony Lang, MD serve as co-PIs on the project.
July 2007
Jing Zhang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology, Shaw Endowed Professorship in Neuropathology Division of Neuropathology Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining research proposal entitled “Using human cerebrospinal fluid samples collected in DATATOP study for biomarker discovery in patients with Parkinson’s disease”. This was a collective effort of the PSG Biomarkers Working Group. Un Jung Kang, MD will be an active participant and advisor on this project. Michael McDermott, PhD will provide statistical support.
June 2007
Michael Schwarzschild, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, at Harvard Medical School, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Predicting PD Progression Subtypes by CSF Urate Pathways”. Alberto Ascherio, MD, PhD serves as co-PI on the project.
February 2007
Ergun Uc, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, of the Divisions of Movement Disorders & Neuroergonomics, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinic, was awarded a $25,000 grant from the PSG and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation for his datamining project entitled “Predictors and Course of Cognitive Decline and Depression Early in the Course of PD based on the DATATOP Cohort”. This was a collective effort of the PSG Cognitive/Psychiatric Working Group with John Growdon, Kelvin Chou, Karen Marder, Irene Litvan, Michel Panisset, Steve Anderson, and Peter Como all as co-investigators. Michael McDermott, PhD is the statistical co-PI.
The PSG Visiting Mentorship Program is funded by a grant from Sunovion Pharmaceuticals. The goal of this program is to promote the continued development of newly trained movement disorders clinician-researchers into world-class investigators. This initiative focuses on the mentorship of young investigators committed to clinical research in the Parkinson arena by seasoned, established clinical investigators. While there are several courses and conference that a young investigator can participate in, there is no substitute for a personal mentor-mentee relationship, where the mentor can review the mentee’s proposed initiative(s), and meet with the mentee’s team, local set up, and provide in-person sage advice.
2019
Adam Margolius, MD with Visiting Mentor: Janis Miyasaki, MD
Project Title: “Palliative Care Program for Patients with Advanced PD”, Cleveland Clinic, OH
Drew Kern, MS, MD with Visiting Mentor: Alfonso Fasano, MD, PhD
Project Title: “Palliative Care Program for Patients with Advanced PD”, Cleveland Clinic, OH
Danielle Larson, MD with Visiting Mentor: Allison Willis, MD
Project Title: “Research participation barriers amongst underrepresented PD individuals”, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL.
Deepak Gupta, MD with Visiting Mentor: Satya S. Sahoo, PhD
Project Title: “Development of an ontology-based integrated database and analysis platform for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders (Insight-PD)”, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
