Our pre-clinical, or laboratory based, research

Cure Parkinson’s is an international funder of both preclinical and clinical research.

Before an experimental treatment can be tested in humans, there needs to be evidence that it works in laboratory models of Parkinson’s; this information helps provide a case for support in taking the treatment forward into clinical testing in people.

In addition to our extensive clinical trials programme, we also fund preclinical research to determine if a treatment has potential as a Parkinson’s therapy. We are selective in the nature of preclinical research we fund; the studies must be focused on changing the course of Parkinson’s (disease modifying) and must be within 5 years of reaching the clinic.

Preclinical research supported by us includes screening clinically approved drugs that inhibit particular Parkinson’s-associated proteins. We also fund studies investigating novel agents (that are being clinically developed for other medical conditions) in the laboratory to determine if they should be repurposed for Parkinson’s.