Funding Opportunity - Repositioning Drugs for Parkinson’s Disease 2012

Do you have clinically safe or regulatory approved drugs for other indications that may also be promising for Parkinson’s disease (PD)? The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) can help support pre-clinical or clinical testing of such therapeutics through our Repositioning Drugs for PD 2012 program.

PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting more than five million people worldwide, a number that is only expected to grow over the next two decades due to the aging population. Current therapies are effective in addressing mild-to-moderate motor symptoms of the disease but have significant long-term side effects and do not specifically target the underlying degenerative process. Moreover, few drugs target the numerous non-motor aspects of the disease.

The road from research discovery to the creation of new treatments is long. Through our Repositioning Drugs for PD program, MJFF hopes to shorten this path in order to bring Parkinson’s treatments to market as quickly as possible. Drugs deemed safe for other diseases may be quickly tested for PD efficacy, providing critical decision-making data to guide further development. Applicants may choose one of two ‘tracks’ for projects seeking either to test promising drugs in relevant pre-clinical or clinical studies of PD.
  
Please note that ‘pre-proposals’ are mandatory and will be used to evaluate your proposal’s fit with the stated aims and review criteria of this funding program.  Pre-proposal requirements differ depending on whether you are submitting a pre-clinical or clinical project, so please read all instructions carefully before submitting. All pre-proposals will be reviewed and only those pre-proposals deemed to be of suitable rationale and scientific merit will be invited to submit a full application.

Conference Call: October 18, 2011 – 12:00 pm or 7:00 pm US ET (morning of October 19th in Asia/Australia)**

Pre-Proposal Receipt Date: December 15, 2011 – 6:00 pm US ET

**MJFF will hold two 45-minute conference calls on the date and times listed above to clarify and explain the program goals and answer questions. To participate in the call, researchers must RSVP via email to conferencecalls@michaeljfox.org.  Participants will receive an email reply with further call-in details.

To apply for funding, please visit the Foundation’s Web site, 
http://www.michaeljfox.org/research_openFundingPrograms_program.cfm?ID=51.

Please share this announcement with any researchers you think may be interested in this program, and please do not hesitate to contact MJFF at research@michaeljfox.org with your questions.

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

 As the world’s largest private funder of Parkinson’s research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson’s disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program, and has invested over $264 million in research to date.

For more information, go to www.michaeljfox.org.