Verily Secures $14.7M Grant from Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

Verily, a subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, has been awarded a $14.7 million grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) to advance its Personalized Parkinson's Project. This significant funding boost aims to enhance the understanding of Parkinson's disease through comprehensive data analysis and molecular profiling.

Expanding the Personalized Parkinson's Project

The Personalized Parkinson's Project, initiated in 2016 in collaboration with Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, has been tracking over 500 participants for several years. The project's primary goal is to develop new biomarkers for monitoring disease progression and identify potential therapeutic targets.

With this new grant, Verily plans to employ multiple laboratory methods to create detailed molecular profiles of collected biospecimens. These profiles will be integrated with longitudinal imaging scans and behavioral and physiological data from wearable devices, including Verily's Study Watch.

Dr. Andrew Trister, Verily's chief medical and scientific officer, emphasized the significance of this grant, stating, "This grant expands upon our previous research efforts, enabling us to generate one of the most extensive molecular data assets of its kind, which global researchers will access through Verily's platform to advance new discoveries in Parkinson's disease."

Advanced Data Analysis and Accessibility

The project will utilize Verily's Workbench platform to provide researchers with access to deep, real-world profiles of individuals with Parkinson's disease. This comprehensive approach aims to offer insights into the disease's hallmarks using cutting-edge technologies.

Dr. Mark Frasier, MJFF's chief scientist, highlighted the foundation's commitment to exploring biological forms of Parkinson's disease through molecular phenotyping. He noted, "Verily's new data resource aims to enable researchers to achieve breakthroughs on the underlying mechanisms of the disease and develop novel therapies that can improve the quality of life for people with Parkinson's disease and their caregivers."

The research will include high-resolution data on the immune system's association with Parkinson's progression, whole genome sequencing, metabolomic data analysis, and measurement of alpha-synuclein levels—a protein crucial in the formation of Lewy bodies, a hallmark of Parkinson's disease.

This collaborative effort between Verily and the Michael J. Fox Foundation represents a significant step forward in Parkinson's research, potentially paving the way for more personalized and effective treatments for individuals living with this complex neurological condition.