PLoS ONE (Jan 2023)

Establishing an online resource to facilitate global collaboration and inclusion of underrepresented populations: Experience from the MJFF Global Genetic Parkinson's Disease Project.

  • Eva-Juliane Vollstedt,
  • Harutyun Madoev,
  • Anna Aasly,
  • Azlina Ahmad-Annuar,
  • Bashayer Al-Mubarak,
  • Roy N Alcalay,
  • Victoria Alvarez,
  • Ignacio Amorin,
  • Grazia Annesi,
  • David Arkadir,
  • Soraya Bardien,
  • Roger A Barker,
  • Melinda Barkhuizen,
  • A Nazli Basak,
  • Vincenzo Bonifati,
  • Agnita Boon,
  • Laura Brighina,
  • Kathrin Brockmann,
  • Andrea Carmine Belin,
  • Jonathan Carr,
  • Jordi Clarimon,
  • Mario Cornejo-Olivas,
  • Leonor Correia Guedes,
  • Jean-Christophe Corvol,
  • David Crosiers,
  • Joana Damásio,
  • Parimal Das,
  • Patricia de Carvalho Aguiar,
  • Anna De Rosa,
  • Jolanta Dorszewska,
  • Sibel Ertan,
  • Rosangela Ferese,
  • Joaquim Ferreira,
  • Emilia Gatto,
  • Gençer Genç,
  • Nir Giladi,
  • Pilar Gómez-Garre,
  • Hasmet Hanagasi,
  • Nobutaka Hattori,
  • Faycal Hentati,
  • Dorota Hoffman-Zacharska,
  • Sergey N Illarioshkin,
  • Joseph Jankovic,
  • Silvia Jesús,
  • Valtteri Kaasinen,
  • Anneke Kievit,
  • Peter Klivenyi,
  • Vladimir Kostic,
  • Dariusz Koziorowski,
  • Andrea A Kühn,
  • Anthony E Lang,
  • Shen-Yang Lim,
  • Chin-Hsien Lin,
  • Katja Lohmann,
  • Vladana Markovic,
  • Mika Henrik Martikainen,
  • George Mellick,
  • Marcelo Merello,
  • Lukasz Milanowski,
  • Pablo Mir,
  • Özgür Öztop-Çakmak,
  • Márcia Mattos Gonçalves Pimentel,
  • Teeratorn Pulkes,
  • Andreas Puschmann,
  • Ekaterina Rogaeva,
  • Esther M Sammler,
  • Maria Skaalum Petersen,
  • Matej Skorvanek,
  • Mariana Spitz,
  • Oksana Suchowersky,
  • Ai Huey Tan,
  • Pichet Termsarasab,
  • Avner Thaler,
  • Vitor Tumas,
  • Enza Maria Valente,
  • Bart van de Warrenburg,
  • Caroline H Williams-Gray,
  • Ruey-Mei Wu,
  • Baorong Zhang,
  • Alexander Zimprich,
  • Justin Solle,
  • Shalini Padmanabhan,
  • Christine Klein

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0292180
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 10
p. e0292180

Abstract

Read online

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder, currently affecting ~7 million people worldwide. PD is clinically and genetically heterogeneous, with at least 10% of all cases explained by a monogenic cause or strong genetic risk factor. However, the vast majority of our present data on monogenic PD is based on the investigation of patients of European White ancestry, leaving a large knowledge gap on monogenic PD in underrepresented populations. Gene-targeted therapies are being developed at a fast pace and have started entering clinical trials. In light of these developments, building a global network of centers working on monogenic PD, fostering collaborative research, and establishing a clinical trial-ready cohort is imperative. Based on a systematic review of the English literature on monogenic PD and a successful team science approach, we have built up a network of 59 sites worldwide and have collected information on the availability of data, biomaterials, and facilities. To enable access to this resource and to foster collaboration across centers, as well as between academia and industry, we have developed an interactive map and online tool allowing for a quick overview of available resources, along with an option to filter for specific items of interest. This initiative is currently being merged with the Global Parkinson's Genetics Program (GP2), which will attract additional centers with a focus on underrepresented sites. This growing resource and tool will facilitate collaborative research and impact the development and testing of new therapies for monogenic and potentially for idiopathic PD patients.