+ More Filters

Reset Filters

Title

Funding Organization

Funding Type

Eligible Country

Deadline

Other (Select all that apply)

Show Expired Programs

Show Verified Programs

Not Verified

Parkinson's Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program

Michael J. Fox Foundation

Objective:

This program seeks to advance therapeutic development through pre-clinical and/or clinical testing of approaches addressing unmet needs of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The program is set up to benefit therapeutics with clear potential to prevent, stop, or delay disease progression or to reduce the burden of daily symptoms.

Funding will support projects aimed at:

Pre-Clinical: Identifying, validating and/or developing novel pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions through pre-clinical development from early screening to pre-clinical characterization and testing.
Clinical: Progressing promising interventions with strong pre-clinical packages into/through initial clinical assessment exploring pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, safety/tolerability, or early proof of biology and/or clinical efficacy. For novel targets, MJFF is particularly interested in de-risking programs by supporting early proof of concept in patients to gain insight into the therapeutic potential, including exploration of biomarker-based or clinical endpoint-based efficacy.

MJFF will prioritize projects with the strongest therapeutic rationale, patient value and preclinical-to-clinical translation potential.

The goal of this program is to increase the chances of moving therapies toward the clinic. To expedite the process, only industry and academia-industry partnerships in and outside the United States are welcome to apply. Applicants are permitted to submit multiple unique submissions but should NOT submit multiple pre-proposals supporting different stages or aspects of the same therapeutic development program. Applicants are also permitted and encouraged to re-submit a revised pre-proposal that addresses prior feedback provided by MJFF, if applicable.

The program will be divided into two stages with the goal of offering applicants frequent opportunities to propose novel and promising PD therapeutics:

Applicants may submit a pre-proposal application at any time. Pre-proposals will be reviewed by MJFF within three weeks of submission. This stage is your first and best opportunity to determine if MJFF is the right partner for you.
Applicants whose pre-proposal is selected for further consideration will be invited to submit a full proposal through one of the four review cycles (see full proposal due dates below). MJFF staff will work with applicants to define the most flexible and fastest option for review. Invited applicants will have the opportunity to consult with MJFF on proposal development. Funding decisions will be communicated within three months of full proposal submission.

MJFF will hold office hours to discuss the full proposal development for those invited to submit.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

🎯 1. Fit with Foundational Goals & Strategic Priorities

Proposals must address MJFF’s core mission: advancing biomarkers, therapeutics, or digital tools for PD—targets that would fill gaps in diagnosis, disease tracking, treatment development, or prevention.

Each program has a distinct goal (e.g., Molecular MRI, Therapeutics Pipeline, ASAP Network), so selecting the correct one is critical. Misalignment can lead to reassignment or exclusion .

🧪 2. Clear, Hypothesis-Based Science with Strong Premise

Proposals must clearly articulate the scientific question, rationale, and methods, supported by preliminary data.

MJFF emphasizes hypothesis-driven research that demonstrates potential to advance understanding or treatment of PD .

📊 3. Milestone-Driven, Feasible Planning

Projects should include well-defined objectives and measurable milestones, with timelines aligned to budget and program expectations 

The feasibility of delivering key milestones within the grant period (6 weeks to 3 months review time, overall duration per program) is scrutinized .

🤝 4. Strong, Focused Principal Investigator Model

MJFF requires a single Principal Investigator (PI) responsible for the proposal, even if collaborators are included

Team and institutional support is allowed, but PI ownership—with clear roles defined—is mandatory .

💵 5. Realistic & Justified Budgeting

Budgets must match project goals. Direct costs (e.g., personnel, consumables) are mandatory; indirect costs are capped at 15% for nonprofits and 10% for for-profits.

Justifications should clearly connect resources to key aims and milestones.

⚡ 6. Fast Turnaround & Administrative Compliance

MJFF uses expedited review, with decisions typically within 6 weeks to 3 months of a full proposal .

Strict adherence to templates, deadlines, and formatting is vital—there are no deadline extensions, and administrative errors can disqualify applications .

👩‍🔬 7. Collaborative Potential & Data-Sharing Goals

MJFF rewards projects that promote open science, leverage large PD datasets (like PPMI), and engage in collaborative networks (ASAP, label contests) 

Industry–academia partnerships are encouraged, especially for translational projects like digital biomarkers or therapeutic pipelines.

🏅 8. Target Validation & Therapy Development Readiness

Initiatives like the Target Validation program aim to bolster projects that make therapeutic targets more attractive for clinical translation 

Showing how the project builds critical evidence needed to advance a target toward therapy increases competitiveness.

📋 Summary Table

Predictor	What You Should Do
Strategic prioritization	Align with MJFF’s mission and specific funding track
Hypothesis & data rigor	Provide clear question, rationale, and preliminary support
Milestones & feasibility	Define measurable objectives within timeline
PI-focused leadership	Designate one PI, with defined roles for others
Budgetary alignment	Itemize costs, respect indirect caps
Compliance & submission	Follow format and deadline strictly
Collaboration & open data	Leverage PPMI, ASAP, industry partnerships, network science
Evidence for translation	Position project to support therapeutic development

🛠 Pro Tips

Read program descriptions carefully—match your work to their objectives.

Build your proposal around milestones, showing clear progression paths.

Designate a strong PI responsible for the project’s success.

Budget conservatively but clearly, focusing funds on key experiments.

Use MJFF resources—like PPMI data and open-access tools—to strengthen the science.

Ensure full compliance with formatting and timelines to avoid disqualification.

Highlight translation readiness, especially if targeting therapies or biomarkers.

Specialties

Neurosciences

Eligibility Requirements

Proposals should also fulfill the following criteria:

The selected therapeutic target or mechanism should have strong biological rationale to be pursued as a therapeutic target for PD, such as a genetic link or based on prior validation data in relevant in vitro and/or in vivo models.
The proposed therapeutic approach is sufficiently differentiating from and believed to be superior to any of the currently existing therapies in the market or in development.
The proposal emphasizes how translational biomarkers will be used to monitor target engagement/modulation and hypothesized mechanism of action, as well as consideration of patient enrichment measures that can improve clinical trial design to de-risk further development.
For applications proposing clinical testing, the proposal has a patient-centered approach incorporating patient voice in the clinical development plan.

For this program, MJFF will not consider:

Applications seeking to identify new intervention targets (e.g., large-scale screening or genomic/transcriptomic analyses).
Applications seeking to validate a target with only tool compounds or biological manipulations that have no viable path for further drug optimization and development.
Applications seeking to test reformulation of commercially available drugs via a new route of administration.
Application seeking to assess efficacy of dietary supplements.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Michael J. Fox Foundation

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: Grand Central Station P.O. Box 4777 New York, NY 10163-4777

Legal & Affiliation Disclaimer

Affiliation Disclaimer: Trialect operates independently and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by any sponsors or organizations posting on the GrantsBoard platform. As an independent aggregator of publicly available funding opportunities, Trialect provides equal access to information for all users without endorsing any specific funding source, content, organization, or sponsor. Trialect assumes no responsibility for the content posted by sponsors or third parties.

Subscription Disclaimer: Upon logging into Trialect, you may choose to SUBSCRIBE to GrantsBoard for timely notifications of funding opportunities and to access exclusive benefits, such as priority alerts, reminders, personalized recommendations, and additional application support. However, users are advised to contact sponsors directly for any questions and are not required to subscribe to engage with funding opportunities.

Content Ownership and Copyright Disclaimer: Trialect respects the intellectual property rights of all organizations and individuals. All content posted on GrantsBoard is provided solely for informational purposes and remains the property of the original owners. Trialect does not claim ownership of, nor does it have any proprietary interest in, content provided by third-party sponsors. Users are encouraged to verify content and ownership directly with the posting sponsor.

Fair Use Disclaimer: The information and content available on GrantsBoard are compiled from publicly accessible sources in alignment with fair use principles under U.S. copyright law. Trialect serves as an aggregator of this content, offering it to users in good faith and with the understanding that it is available for public dissemination. Any organization or individual who believes their intellectual property rights have been violated is encouraged to contact us for prompt resolution.

Third-Party Posting Responsibility Disclaimer: Trialect is a neutral platform that allows third-party sponsors to post funding opportunities for informational purposes only. Sponsors are solely responsible for ensuring that their postings comply with copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Trialect assumes no liability for any copyright or intellectual property infringements in third-party content and will take appropriate action to address any substantiated claims.

Accuracy and Verification Disclaimer: Trialect makes no warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided by sponsors. Users are advised to verify the details of any funding opportunity directly with the sponsor before taking action. Trialect cannot be held liable for any discrepancies, omissions, or inaccuracies in third-party postings.

Notice and Takedown Policy: Trialect is committed to upholding copyright law and protecting the rights of intellectual property owners. If you believe that content on GrantsBoard infringes your copyright or intellectual property rights, please contact us with detailed information about the claim. Upon receipt of a valid notice, Trialect will promptly investigate and, where appropriate, remove or disable access to the infringing content.

View Funding Opportunity