PPMI — Parkinson’s Precision Medicine Initiative
Overview
PPMI is a longitudinal, multisite observational study designed to identify and validate biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease onset and progression, and increasingly to support precision medicine stratification. Launched in 2010 by the Michael J. Fox Foundation as the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative, it was expanded in 2020, nearly tripling enrolment and adding online data capture, and renamed the Parkinson’s Precision Medicine Initiative in 2026.
Scale (2024–2026)
- Clinical sites: ~50 across 12 countries
- In-clinic participants: 5,000+, contributing biological samples
- Online-only participants: tens of thousands
- Data downloads (as of 2024): 2.8 million+
Data
PPMI collects clinical assessments, dopamine transporter SPECT (DaTscan), MRI, CSF, blood, urine, saliva, genetic data, and wearable sensor data, held in a longitudinal Parkinson’s biospecimen and data library.
Access
Data are distributed through the LONI Image and Data Archive. Access requires free registration and a data use agreement. Biospecimen requests are handled separately through the PPMI biorepository.
Connections
- registeredIn: LONI IDA
- registeredIn: ClinicalTrials.gov
Resources
- https://www.ppmi-info.org
- https://ida.loni.usc.edu (data access via LONI IDA)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2011.09.019 (Marek et al. 2011, original PPMI design paper)
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.78242 (Marek et al. 2026, Annals of Neurology, 15-year review and rename)