SECTION 1 : PROGRESS
THE MICHAEL J . FOX FOUNDATION 2022 IN REVIEW
Courtesy of Ruben Smith , Skåne University Hospital .
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Visualizing Parkinson ’ s in the Living Brain MJFF has avidly pursued a positron emission tomography ( PET ) alpha-synuclein tracer — a highly specialized brain imaging modality — for more than a decade . Even throughout the modern history of Parkinson ’ s biotechnology , it has been possible to observe and study synuclein aggregates — the pathological hallmark of Parkinson ’ s disease — only posthumously . It is widely understood that the ability to image alpha-synuclein in living Parkinson ’ s patients would be a game changer in diagnosing and tracking the disease , and measuring the impact of potential treatments . In March , at the International Conference on Alzheimer ’ s & Parkinson ’ s Diseases in Barcelona , Spain , Swiss biotech AC Immune announced a momentous breakthrough : the successful development of the first working version of this elusive tool . For the first time , researchers presented brain scans visualizing alpha-synuclein aggregates in the brains of living patients .
AC Immune is one of three winners in the Ken Griffin Alphasynuclein Imaging Competition , launched in September 2019 with leadership support from the philanthropist and founder of multinational hedge fund and financial services company Citadel LLC to spur on the race for the synuclein tracer . In 2023 , Foundation research staff and expert partners will evaluate the AC Immune results alongside those from the two other competitors — Massachusetts General Brigham and Merck . The team furthest in development of an alpha-synuclein PET tracer will receive an additional $ 1.5 million in funding to continue this effort .