Verily Receives Grant to Build Major Parkinson's Molecular Dataset

Verily, Alphabet’s health data and AI subsidiary, has been awarded a $14.7 million research grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) to create a comprehensive molecular dataset for Parkinson's disease. This project will leverage data from the Personalized Parkinson's Project (PPP), a two-year study involving 520 participants diagnosed with Parkinson’s in collaboration with Radboud University Medical Center. The study integrates clinical, imaging, biospecimen, and wearable data, with participants continuously wearing Verily's Study Watch and completing virtual motor exams.

Dr. Andrew Trister, Verily’s Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, emphasized that this data, combined with imaging and clinical records, is instrumental in validating digital measures in Parkinson's research. It also provides an in-depth profile of participants’ health and disease progression, which will aid in refining clinical trial endpoints and understanding disease characteristics over time. To build the most detailed molecular dataset of a Parkinson's cohort to date, Verily will use a variety of advanced techniques, including Immune Profiler Xseq, 30X Whole Genome Sequencing, and profiling of cytokines, metabolites, and alpha-synuclein.

The grant will fund high-resolution molecular analysis of existing biospecimens, such as blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and the dataset will include whole genome sequencing, metabolomics, alpha-synuclein biomarkers, and immunogenomic data. The goal is to uncover new insights into Parkinson’s mechanisms, improve diagnostics, and support the development of targeted therapies. The dataset will be accessible via Verily Workbench, a cloud-based platform that facilitates large-scale data analysis, allowing researchers to explore Parkinson’s-related molecular data alongside other Verily-hosted datasets.

This project further strengthens Verily’s ongoing collaborations with MJFF, including its contributions to the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) and its work with initiatives like the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) program, the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2), and the CRN Cloud. Dr. Trister noted that this new grant will provide a novel molecular data resource to help researchers better understand the genetic, immunological, and molecular factors of Parkinson’s disease and improve research outcomes.