Journal of Parkinson’s Disease Adds a Tool for Finding Sources of Research Funding to Its Website

The Journal of Parkinson’s Disease (JPD) is working to promote Parkinson’s research by helping its researchers find new sources of financial support — through a free service, the Parkinson’s Disease Funding Analyzer (PDFA), now available on its website and containing in-depth data on 114 funding sources in 40 countries.

“This is a unique and remarkable tool that will be very valuable to everyone doing Parkinson’s research,” Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD, with the Van Andel Research Institute and the JPD’s editor-in-chief, said in a press release. “It is becoming increasingly important to know more about the funding landscape and about who is working on what project so effective collaborations can be sought out.”

Funding sources included in the PDFA cover all of the European Union, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Canada, and Qatar. The system was designed in collaboration with ÜberResearch, and it incorporates all PD-related funding from the company’s database of over $940 billion in sponsored research, representing more than two million research projects supported by 200 different sponsors. Identified sponsors include the U.K. Research Councils and the Wellcome Trust in the U.K., and the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation in the U.S.

The PDFA is meant to help scientists tailor their grant applications through a better understanding of research organizations’ funding portfolios, and the funding patterns of agencies or groups. Users can ask line-of-investigation questions (for instance, searching under terms like L-Dopa, alpha-synuclein, transplantation) to better identify trends and to determine which PD researchers in which countries have been the most successful in gaining support for specific projects or focus areas. New information will be added to the PDFA on an ongoing basis.

“We invite all PD researchers to register at https://www.journalofparkinsonsdisease.com/funding for this valuable service, which we are pleased to make available at no charge,” Dr. Brundin said.

Registration opens access to the PDFA and to other features on the JPD website.