The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) has announced a partnership with New York-based H1, a healthcare data company, to streamline its search for physicians actively treating Parkinson's disease patients and gather information on patient populations and treatment approaches. 

MJFF will utilize H1's Trial Landscape, an AI-enabled platform that uses performance data to gain insights into clinical trial investigators and sites, to connect with healthcare providers and advance its education and research initiatives. 

The foundation will also obtain information on underrepresented patient populations and the challenges they face in order to develop strategies to support them effectively. 

"Our efforts toward better treatments and cures for Parkinson's disease are built on partnerships. People with disease or risk factors, their loved ones, teams of scientists, and care providers all play a role in developing and testing new strategies to prevent progression and ease symptoms. We engaged with H1 to help us expand our network of partners and thereby speed up breakthroughs," Maggie McGuire Kuhl, vice president of research engagement at the Michael J. Fox Foundation, told MobiHealthNews in an email. 

THE LARGER TREND

Nearly one million people in the U.S. live with Parkinson's disease. However, the representation of persons within marginalized communities in clinical trials has been low. 

In April, a study was published in The Lancet, sponsored by the MJFF, that showed a significant breakthrough in Parkinson's disease research: the discovery of a biomarker that allows for the detection of the disease in individuals before cardinal movement symptoms arise, via a spinal fluid test, with high diagnostic accuracy.

In a statement following the study's publication, the foundation said the findings give promise that individuals living with Parkinson's can expect improved care and treatments, and those newly diagnosed may never advance to have full-blown symptoms. 

Another company working to further Parkinson's disease research is California-based Rune Labs, a precision neurology software and data platform company. 

In March, Rune announced a partnership with BlueRock Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, to aid in studying Parkinson's disease. BlueRock will utilize Rune Labs' clinical development platform, StriveStudy, for clinical trial enrollment, real-world evidence data-generation and monitoring patient compliance in a study.