The Michael J. Fox Foundation believes that a major hurdle in the development of promising treatments for Parkinson's disease is the need for well-validated targets linked to the disease process. By promoting critical target validation studies within academic and industry laboratories, MJFF investments can help de-risk subsequent drug development and ultimately accelerate the creation of innovative therapies for Parkinson's patients. Part of our Edmond J. Safra Core Programs for PD Research, the Target Advancement program seeks to build robust evidence to rationalize biological pathways and targets for further translation into new Parkinson's treatments.

Target Advancement Awards support research characterizing promising, novel PD-relevant targets or continuing target biology work on established PD targets. Preferred targets for this program already demonstrate links to PD in human patient populations. These awards are well-suited to projects where hypothetical or experimental rationale for a target is compelling but limited, and study results can make the case for continuing (or discontinuing) a line of research. We invite projects designed to assess emerging PD targets in pre-clinical models, human cellular models, and human tissue and fluid matrices. 

Please note: MJFF has launched a Targeted Pathway RFA for Mitochondrial Biomarkers. Proposed projects focusing on non-biomarker related mitochondrial target validation should apply to MJFF's Target Advancement core funding program and not the Mitochondrial Biomarkers Targeted RFA program.