The tools to diagnose and measure Parkinson’s disease (PD), including subjective, periodic assessments of balance and stiffness, have been relatively imprecise — until now. Researchers recently made major progress toward an imaging tracer to detect alpha-synuclein, or the “Parkinson’s protein.” Being able to view the protein in the living brain will lead to better understanding of what’s happening before symptoms appear and as disease progresses — and better testing and therapies. This would be a game-changer.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation's multi-year support of research to detect alpha-synuclein was made possible by supporters like you, and it was critical in getting to this point of discovery. At this moment, there are 15 drug therapies directly targeting alpha-synuclein in human testing, with many more trials to come.

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