Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s | ASAP

The call for LOIs for the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) 2025 Scientific Track is officially open 🚨 This funding opportunity aims to propel progress in #ParkinsonsDisease by funding bold, high-impact research projects. For this cycle, applications within the Scientific Track that focus on dissecting the mechanisms that contribute to PD heterogeneity will be considered across 6 key focus areas. Apply to become part of the CRN, a global community driving groundbreaking discoveries. 📅 Learn more and Submit your LOI today: https://lnkd.in/ehTRFiXN #CRNFundingOpportunity #Grants #ParkinsonsResearch

Science depends on reproducibility—but what happens when researchers can’t track down the exact materials used in a study? Dana Cobb Lewis, PhD’s latest #blog explores how the lack of clear identification for lab materials leads to irreproducible research, wasted funding, and stalled scientific progress. ASAP is solving this problem by requiring grantees use Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs) to ensure that lab materials remain uniquely identifiable and accessible over time. The impact? A 239% increase in the number of unambiguously identified materials in ASAP-funded research. 🔗 Learn more about how ASAP is improving reproducibility: https://lnkd.in/gENp9GUb #OpenScience

We are committed to ensuring that ASAP-funded work can be leveraged by others. In 2024, we expanded our partnership with Parkinson's Foundation and piloted a return of individual research information for PDGeneration participants, giving them the opportunity to have a better understanding of their results.

Check out these new papers from CRN Team Alessi 🧪 Left: In this preprint, Team Alessi shows that GBA1 mutations impair Hedgehog signaling through a distinct mechanism: the cilia are intact but cannot transduce the signal. These findings reveal a convergent mechanism by which distinct mutations may contribute to PD pathogenesis. Author: Suzanne Pfeffer 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gu_Eq-74 Right: In this publication, Team Alessi demonstrates that PINK1 and LRRK2 operate in a parallel signaling pathway in the brain. Notably, PINK1 knock-out mice display cilia defects and reduced GDNF expression akin to LRRK2 mutant mice, suggesting a convergent mechanism for #PD. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gnPkJbXq

🚨New YouTube playlist on the Mito911 webinar series! The Mito911 webinar series brings together insights from leading experts in the field, offering a deep dive into groundbreaking discoveries and innovative approaches shaping the future of science and medicine. 📺 Whether you’re a researcher, student, or just curious about the science behind these essential processes, check out the series now and join the conversation: https://lnkd.in/gAGr83DD #MitochondriaResearch #Neurodegeneration

In the latest episode of Discover ASAP, Devin Snyder, Ph.D., sits down with Seppe De Winter, MS, Niklas Kempynck, MS, David Mauduit, PhD, and Ibrahim I. Taskiran, PhD from CRN Team Voet to discuss their recent Nature publication, "Cell Type Directed Design of Synthetic Enhancers." They explore how deep learning models and open-source software that can be used to design synthetic enhancers that precisely regulate gene expression in specific cell types—offering powerful tools for gene studies and targeted therapies. 📺 Watch the full discussion to see how these advances are shaping the future of gene regulation research: https://lnkd.in/gk5KV3gw

Open science practices that encourage sharing knowledge and scientific resources accelerate discoveries. Our newly updated open science thought leadership page highlights three key areas: 📄 ASAP Manuscripts – Research and insights on developing and implementing open science policies 📝 Open Science Blog Posts – Stories and innovations shaping the open science landscape 📚 Open Science Resources – Practical guides, tools, and frameworks for researchers Explore how we’re building a more open and collaborative research environment for #ParkinsonsDisease and beyond. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3WVPfC0 #OpenScience

We are grateful for support in #ParkinsonsResearch to drive groundbreaking discoveries, including the identification of a GBA1 gene variant linked to Parkinson’s risk in people of African ancestry and use of a spinal fluid test for early Parkinson’s diagnosis. Through our organization, these efforts are accelerating breakthroughs in diagnostics and treatment and transforming how the disease is fundamentally understood to reshape the future of Parkinson’s care. 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/eS8QEsup

In this paper, CRN Team Awatramani re-designed the elevated plus maze (EPM). The task, called the Opto-Avoidance-Elevated Plus Maze, allows researchers to test if an optogenetic stimulation of a specific brain area is perceived as aversive or rewarding 🧪 Read the full #publication: https://bit.ly/40LPv7K

In this paper, CRN Teams Gradinaru and Sulzer demonstrate that mitochondria in the striatum are functionally overactive in α-synuclein-overexpressing (ASO) mice, and that depleting the gut microbiome restores mitochondrial respiration profiles and mitochondria-associated gene expression to wild-type levels. These findings suggest that the gut microbiome increases mitochondrial respiration and oxidative stress in the brain, which enhances motor symptoms in a mouse model of #PD. 🧪 Check out the full #preprint: https://bit.ly/4hsQv8c