The Parkinson’s Foundation has partnered with Parkinson’s UK to invest £200,000 in to the charity’s Virtual Biotech company.
The US-based organisation’s grant will support a project seeking to discover new ways that may prevent brain cell death by stabilising the source of energy essential to cell survival, the mitochondria.
The collaboration marks the first international funding received by Parkinson’s UK for the Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech, and signals the “start of a joint trans-Atlantic mission to fast-track the best scientific ideas towards groundbreaking new treatments for Parkinson’s.”
Each year, Parkinson’s UK, their supporters and partners invest more than £4 million into the Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech to rapidly develop and test the most promising research findings, with the aim of turning them into treatments that will transform the lives of people with Parkinson’s. The Virtual Biotech “focuses on the projects that matter the most to the Parkinson’s community” and is powered by collaborations with world-leading research organisations that are best placed to deliver on the aims of each project.
The foundation is “pleased to partner with Parkinson’s UK to further innovative research that will help the international Parkinson’s community,” said John Lehr, president and chief executive officer at the organisation.
He continued, “This collaboration will help us better serve people living with Parkinson’s today while furthering the promise of a cure tomorrow.”
The two organisations also announced that they will partner on an awareness and fundraising event called Parkinson’s Revolution, an indoor cycling experience taking place on February 8, 2020 across the US, Canada and the UK, which will raise awareness and funds for Parkinson’s research and programmes.
