We are delighted to announce that the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit has received funding from the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative for a substantial multi-year research collaboration to advance the understanding of brain cell and circuit dysfunction in Parkinson’s.

The new international collaboration builds on the MRC Unit’s interactions with colleagues at the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre, and will bring three Oxford teams together with researchers based at the University of Boston, USA, the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, the University of Peking, China, and Stanford University, USA. As part of this collaboration, the MRC Unit will leverage its leading expertise in high-resolution in vivo phenotyping of rodent models of Parkinson’s.

ASAP is a coordinated research initiative to advance targeted basic research for Parkinson’s disease. Its mission is to accelerate the pace of discovery and inform the path to a cure through collaboration, research-enabling resources, and data sharing. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research is ASAP’s implementation partner and issued the grant.

Professor Peter Magill, who will lead the Unit’s contribution to the collaboration, commented, “This is an exciting opportunity to enhance the Unit’s strong portfolio of fundamental and translational neuroscience research. We look forward to working with our collaborators as we pursue our shared goal of defining why, how and when brain network dynamics go awry in Parkinson’s.”