Developing a Virtual Research Environment in the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative: <scp>myPPMI</scp>
In the 15 years since Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) launched, research conduct has advanced with broader connectivity, enabling virtual and hybrid methods for recruitment, engagement, education, and data collection. To meet evolving needs, PPMI created "myPPMI," which has grown from an informational portal to a multi-country, participant-centered, virtual research environment integrating education, screening, e-consent, longitudinal non-motor and motor assessments, and biospecimen referral. Built on a secure, cloud-native architecture with daily analytics and a multi-tier support model, myPPMI enables precision recruitment, real-time eligibility matching, and standardized low-burden data capture across studies. The platform is designed to enable focused data collection from individuals or groups based on the data they have already provided. This strategy provides the tools to establish precise subsets of high interest that could be targeted for further data acquisition. Usability testing and rapid global scaling demonstrate a generalizable, decentralized framework for biomarker-driven, Parkinson's disease research. ANN NEUROL 2026.
Authors
- Alícia Garrido (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0652-6348)
- Cailey Fitzgerald
- Ethan Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9744-8562)
- Monica Korell
- Bridget A. McMahon
- Brit Mollenhauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8437-3645)
- Maggie Kuhl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3187-4572)
- Kimberly Fabrizio
- Christina Destro
- Auldyn Matthews‐McGee
- Craig E. Stanley
- Nicola Pavese
- Kenneth Marek
- Nichole H. Rigby
- Caroline M. Tanner
- The Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative
- Zeina Singh
- John‐Michael Talarico
- Sohini Chowdhury
- Thomas F. Tropea
Institutions
- University of Kassel (DE)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Michael J. Fox Foundation (US)
- Biomedical Research Networking Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (ES)
- Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders (US)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (ES)
- NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- Newcastle Hospitals - Campus for Ageing and Vitality (GB)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Newcastle University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annals of Neurology
- Published
- 2026-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.78230
- Primary Topic
- Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00