Who We Are

The PPMI study has established the following Working Groups to provide continual input, expertise and support for the study in specific areas. The groups meet regularly via teleconference with two main goals: 1) to assess the state of the science and determine whether potential candidate markers ought to be considered for inclusion in PPMI; and 2) to take the lead in suggesting and/or carrying out data analyses in the respective scientific area. The PPMI Working Groups are attended by PPMI investigators and PPMI Partner Scientific Advisory Board members.

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Biologics

Chairs: Brit Mollenhauer, MD and Doug Galasko, MD

Focus: Advances in biofluid biomarkers hold potential promise in refining trial enrichment criteria, measuring target engagement and tracking disease progression. The Biologics Working Group is meant to review and discuss assays and soluble analytes of interest to Parkinson’s. These discussions often inform top-down projects to prospectively analyze PPMI samples in addition to recommending analyses of existing biologic, clinical and imaging data related to disease progression and sub-types. Teleconferences may also feature data presentations from invited field experts.

Genetics

Chairs: Andrew Singleton, PhD and Tatiana Foroud, PhD

Focus: MJFF has invested heavily in whole genome, whole exome, RNA sequencing, and methylation assessments in PPMI. Computational science and machine learning approaches to mine these rich datasets continue to explore new ways to model Parkinson’s disease, its progression, and opportunities to subtype and stratify patients. Thought leaders from PPMI’s Genetics Working Group as well as MJFF awardees present analyses from PPMI as well as other global large scale multi-cohort Parkinson’s disease genetic modeling efforts where PPMI data has been instrumental in building a larger, more robust dataset.

Cognitive Behavioral

Chairs: Dan Weintraub, MD and Roseann Dobkin, PhD

Focus: MJFF has invested heavily in whole genome, whole exome, RNA sequencing, and methylation assessments in PPMI. Computational science and machine learning approaches to mine these rich datasets continue to explore new ways to model Parkinson’s disease, its progression, and opportunities to subtype and stratify patients. Thought leaders from PPMI’s Genetics Working Group as well as MJFF awardees present analyses from PPMI as well as other global large scale multi-cohort Parkinson’s disease genetic modeling efforts where PPMI data has been instrumental in building a larger, more robust dataset.

Imaging

Chairs: Kathleen Poston, MD, MS and John Seibyl, MD

Focus: Several types of imaging modalities have been deployed in PPMI to date. In addition to analyzing these data, PPMI’s Imaging Working Group has developed and disseminated best practices around standardized data acquisition and harmonization across sites, data processing SOPs, and quantification and analysis recommendations to help the field understand and best utilize these resources.

Digital Sensors

Chair: Andrew Siderowf, MD

Focus: Data from the Roche app and Verily Watch have been collected in PPMI. In addition to analyzing data from these digital biomarker tools, the Digital Sensor working group also features discussions around other tools being used in the PD field and potential data analyses to be conducted.

Data Analysis

Chairs: Christopher Coffey, PhD and Iwona Dobler, PhD

Focus: Support ways for the PPMI Statistics Core, and statisticians from PPMI PSAB companies to work together in a pre-competitive manner on analysis of PPMI data.

Cell Lines

Chair: Mark Cookson, PhD

Focus: This working group includes PPMI Partner Scientific Advisory Board members, PPMI Biospecimen Review Committee members, the Foundational Data Initiative for Parkinson’s Disease (FOUNDIN) team, and all past/current recipients of PPMI cell lines. The key goals for this WG would be to 1) spur new collaborations and cell line requests, 2) increase the study’s awareness of activities by PPMI cell line recipients, and 3) ensure that PPMI cell line recipients are benefitting from the clinical, biologic, and imaging data available from cell line donors

Sleep

Chairs: Phyllis Zee, MD, PhD and Birgit Högl, MD

Focus: This working group provides an advisory role in the development and implementation of sleep research initiatives and protocols in PPMI. The goal of this working group is to provide standards for quality of sleep data, diagnostic criteria, and analyses. Members of this working group include PPMI Partner Scientific Advisory Board members and representatives from the PPMI clinical sites that specialize in RBD recruitment.

To communicate with the Working Groups, contact us.