Parkinson's Disease Proteoforms Program

This program supports two complementary funding tracks: 

1. Global Proteoform Profiling: A broad, proteome-wide effort to systematically characterize proteoforms, addressing a critical gap where conventional proteomics fails to capture disease-relevant molecular forms.
2. Tau Proteoform Characterization: A focused track on Parkinson's-relevant proteoforms of tau, addressing the limited understanding of tau biology in Parkinson's disease.

Applicants may apply to both tracks but must submit separate applications.

Note: Samples of matched brain tissue and biofluids will be provided to awardees by MJFF through the Banner Sun Health Research Institute.

Proposals in scope will:

• Generate high-resolution, well annotated proteoform datasets from Parkinson's brain and matched biofluids that can be shared as a resource for the broader research community, and support biomarker development and translational applications.
• Characterize key proteoform features, including sequence variations, post-translational modifications, proteolytic processing, and structural or conformational states.
• Enable comparisons of proteoform profiles across human samples, disease stages, mixed pathologies and clinical phenotypes, and perform comparative analyses across brain regions and biofluids to identify novel biomarkers and biological insights.
• Integrate data across biomatrices and modalities to support systems level insights into Parkinson's biology.
• Apply biomatrix-specific, optimized, validated, and scalable technologies, along with tailored enrichment and sample preparation strategies, to obtain proteoform-resolved measurements.
• Generate standardized protocols, quality control metrics, and analytical pipelines to enable reproducibility and reuse.

For both tracks, MJFF will not consider proposals that:

• Focus solely on discovery proteomic approaches without resolving proteoforms.
• Are primarily method development projects.
• Use preclinical or in vitro models.
• Offer no plan for data sharing, standardization and broad usability by the Research Community.
• Are a novel collection of biosamples. All discovery efforts must utilize the RFA-provided samples from the Banner Sun Health Research Institute. While not required, applicants may include their own samples for replication or validation; however, MJFF will not support any costs associated with acquiring or processing non-RFA samples.

For Track 1, MJFF will not consider proposals with:

• Restricted scope to a small number of proteins without a clear strategy for broader proteome or proteoform coverage.

For Track 2, MJFF will not consider proposals with:

• Reliance primarily on knowledge or cohorts from primary tauopathies or Alzheimer’s disease without generating Parkinson's-specific data.

Have questions? Browse our FAQ document.

Please note that MJFF has an Open Science Policy which governs research outputs (such as preprints, journal articles, data, code, and software) resulting from MJFF-funded work. The Open Science Policy applies to this funding program and includes specific rules, timing, and format for the return of those research outputs and requires them to be shared openly, to be free to access, and with persistent identifiers. Please contact openscience@michaeljfox.org for questions about the Open Science Policy.