Arizona Parkinson Disease Consortium is chosen as site for $40-million five year grant
Five-year observational clinical study, sponsored by
Michael J. Fox Foundation, will seek biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease
Sun City, AZ (Sept 28, 2010) — Banner Sun Health Research Institute in collaboration with Mayo Clinic Arizona announced that it is one of 18 official study sites for the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), a landmark observational clinical study sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which will use a combination of advanced imaging, biologics sampling and behavioral assessments to identify biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease progression. Enrollment of patients at Banner Sun Health Research Institute is expected to begin in August 2010 and will continue for approximately two years.
“PPMI holds potential not only to accelerate the development of breakthrough Parkinson’s treatments for the future, but also to improve diagnosis and treatment of today’s generation of PD patients,” said Holly Shill MD, director of Parkinson’s research at Banner Sun Health Research Institute. “Arizona Parkinson Disease Consortium has been at the forefront of Parkinson’s disease research for years in Arizona. It is deeply meaningful to have been selected as a PPMI site and to have our commitment to speeding Parkinson’s solutions recognized.”
Said Michael J. Fox: “This is an ambitious undertaking, no doubt, but nothing worth having comes easily. Everything we’ve learned up to now, the partnerships we’ve worked to forge, the results of research we’ve funded — it’s all put us in position to launch this effort. We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and, hopefully, get this done.”
Biomarkers: Mission-critical for Parkinson’s Drug Development
A biomarker could be any objectively measurable physical characteristic associated with the presence of disease (diagnostic or risk marker) or any characteristic that changes over time in a way that can be tied to the progression of disease (progression marker).
“There is no doubt that finding a biomarker is critical to the development of next-generation therapies, and that the lack of this tool is among the most critical issues facing the PD research field,” said Katie Hood, CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation. “MJFF has funded biomarker discovery efforts for years. Now we are poised for a concerted, unified effort that will take these discoveries to the next level.”
The lack of a PD biomarker impedes PD diagnosis and treatment, and also critically stalls the development of improved therapies, particularly therapies to slow or stop the progression of PD, something no currently available treatment can do. Clinical trials of new, potentially disease-modifying Parkinson’s treatments are at risk of yielding inconclusive results, because there is no way to measure the effects of those treatments objectively.
# # #
About the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI)
PPMI, a groundbreaking study to find biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease, will be carried out over five years at 19 clinical sites in the United States and Europe. The study will enroll 400 de novo Parkinson’s patients (patients who are newly diagnosed and have not yet taken PD medication) and 200 healthy age-matched controls. For information on enrolling in PPMI, please contact site coordinator Sanja Obradov at (623) 876-5468 or e-mail.
About The Michael J. Fox Foundation
The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to ensuring the development of better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda. MJFF has funded over $175 million in research to date.
About Banner Sun Health Research Institute
For 23 years, Banner Sun Health Research Institute, part of nonprofit Banner Health, has been a leader nationally and internationally in the effort to find answers to disorders of aging including Parkinson’s disease. The institute’s Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research takes laboratory discoveries to clinical trials that foster hope for new treatments. Banner Health is Arizona’s leading health care provider and second largest private employer. For more information, visit www.shri.org and www.BannerHealth.com.
Media Contact :Brian Browne
Ph: (623) 875-6536
e-mail
