Dear PPMI Participant,
I have worked as a scientist studying Parkinson’s disease for almost 15 years.
In that time I’ve seen great progress. I’ve also been privileged to meet
many people affected by Parkinson’s. I see a common thread among those
who live with this disease: a need to understand, a drive to see a cure, and
always, a desire to help speed progress.
There are many ways to help: donating money, becoming part of a
support group, telling others about your journey or, of course, taking part
in a research study. The Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative is one
such study, and one that I believe will be critical to our success in treating
this disease.
PPMI aims to help identify markers that will allow us to track the progression
of this illness in an unbiased way. This is important for many reasons, but
perhaps most crucial is its potential impact on treatment trials. Today’s trials
take a long time and cost enormous sums of money. If we can find a marker
that indicates progression in a simple and rapid manner we can reduce the
cost of such trials, reduce the time taken to complete them, and likely entice
drug companies to invest more time and effort in Parkinson’s disease trials.
The work of PPMI is only possible because we are able to follow the
same subjects month after month, year after year. Without this incredible
commitment on your part, it just wouldn’t work. I have seen the data
coming from PPMI, and I know that you are donating a lot of time and effort
to this study. So thank you. I am genuinely grateful for your help.
Andrew Siderowf, MD, MSCE
PPMI Scientific Advisory Board
9