Parkinson’s research and COVID-19

Life has changed drastically for all of us over the past month.

At Parkinson’s UK, our top priority is supporting people with the condition, and the people in their lives, to cope during the crisis.

Inevitably, the pandemic is also having a major impact on Parkinson’s research. But we and the wider community are doing everything possible to keep the science moving forward during these challenging times.

What’s happening with Parkinson’s research?

• Like everyone else, most lab-based Parkinson’s scientists are currently working at home — and that means a lot of experiments have been put on hold.
• Most clinical researchers are also healthcare professionals. So many of them are returning to front line services.
• Social distancing measures mean face-to-face studies involving people with Parkinson’s are largely paused during the lockdown.
  International and national scientific conferences and meetings have been cancelled or postponed.
• Many funders, including Parkinson’s UK, are expecting fundraising income to be affected by the pandemic. We’re having to make tough decisions about new research funding.

But it’s not all bad news. Researchers are a resourceful bunch, and they’re getting stuck into tasks they can complete at home, such as data analysis and writing. Like us, they’re holding lab meetings and seminars virtually.

And many studies are finding ways to continue despite the challenges. A great example of this is the Parkinson’s UK-funded Predict-PD study.

This mainly online study is following people aged 60–80 who do not have Parkinson’s (or any other neurological condition) and aims to spot the very subtle, early warning signs of the condition. Using data collected in the study, the team hope to develop ways to accurately predict who will go on to be diagnosed in the future.

In-person study visits have been paused but the team are managing to continue everything else from home — including sending out smell tests by post and walking participants through online assessments.

What Parkinson’s UK is doing

When it comes to research funded by Parkinson’s UK, most of the projects we fund at universities and hospitals are paused. However, we’re working closely with researchers and institutions to find ways to mitigate the impact of coronavirus and ensure they have the right support to get back up and running as soon as possible.

There are some remarkable examples of research continuing in the face of the current challenges.

The Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank is the world’s only brain bank solely dedicated to Parkinson’s research. It collects precious tissue from people with and without the condition who have decided to leave their brains to research. The team is continuing to work with families and hospital staff to arrange tissue collections where possible during the pandemic.

Ville Pitkaaho is the research nurse at the brain bank and works with families, hospitals and mortuaries to arrange tissue donations:

“The situation is challenging due to the incredible pressure our colleagues in hospitals and mortuaries are under and the restrictions on travel in place across the UK. But we know how valuable human brain tissue is to Parkinson’s research, and how important it is to donors and their families for their wishes to be fulfilled. So we’re doing everything we can to continue to collect brain tissue where it is possible.”

The Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech is a pioneering initiative that aims to take forward promising scientific discoveries and turn them into potential treatments. This early-stage drug development work is critically underfunded and that’s why we are stepping in to plug the gap. We have three early-stage drug development projects active in the Virtual Biotech. Despite the current challenges, all three are continuing.

“Unlike our regular research projects which are based in universities and hospitals, our virtual biotech projects are mainly conducted by commercial contract research organisations either in the UK or overseas. Despite the lockdown restrictions, for the most part we’ve been able to find creative ways to keep work moving forward for our 3 drug discovery projects. This really highlights the agility of our Virtual Biotech programme and our determination to deliver results even in challenging times.”

Arthur Roach, Director of Research

Right now, the research community needs to connect more than ever so we’re determined to continue with our national conference in September. We have a fantastic agenda planned and wonderful speakers lined-up. Whether in person or virtual, we’ll be bringing the scientific community together to share knowledge, ideas and plans.

What are the longer-term impacts?

The short-term disruption to Parkinson’s research is extremely frustrating — but we’re taking steps to ensure we’re ready to get our paused research programmes back up and running as soon as we can when restrictions are lifted.

Like most charities, we expect our fundraising income to be significantly affected by the crisis. So, we’ve taken the difficult decision to defer some of our research funding decisions until later in the year when the financial situation becomes clearer. We have furloughed over 100 staff across the organisation to protect resources while maintaining vital activities as best we can.

The longer-term impacts on research are much harder to predict but we anticipate fundraising is likely to be challenging for some time to come.

Whatever happens, our mission to deliver better treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s will not change. We are an incredible team of scientists, investors and innovators and we’re sure we’ll come out of this stronger and better than ever.

Support research from home during lockdown

Some research is temporarily on hold, but there are still important ways to support research while staying at home.

Join the Research Support Network — a community of people who are driving forward research to find better treatments and a cure. We’ll send you emails letting you know the latest news and opportunities to connect with and support research.

Browse our Take Part Hub to find opportunities to take part in research. There are quite a few online studies on the hub which you can take part in without leaving the house. And while recruitment to in-person studies is on pause, research teams are still happy to hear from people who are interested so they can crack on with recruitment when restrictions are lifted.

Pledge your brain for Parkinson’s. The Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank is the world’s only brain bank solely dedicated to Parkinson’s research. People with and without Parkinson’s can sign up and pledge to donate their brain for research. Further information and the forms you need to complete are available to download and print on the Parkinson’s UK website.

Thank you for your incredible support

Thanks to you, Parkinson’s research is in a great place. We’ve built momentum. We’re closing in on treatments that have potential to slow, stop or reverse the condition, as well as those that can help better manage symptoms. We won’t stop until there is a cure.