Monthly Research Review – May 2026

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At the end of each month, the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major or interesting pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during May 2026.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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In May 2026, there were 1,205 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word Parkinson s attached (compared to 6,382 for all of 2026). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

1. Parkinson’s Clinical Trial pipeline report:

The latest edition of the Parkinson’s drug therapies in the clinical trial pipeline report has been published and we did something special with it: We have conducted a 10 year longitudinal analysis of Parkinson’s trials (n=444), highlighting some interesting trends; Symptomatic trials registered each year has been trending down, while DMT trials have been shifting up; Only 9 Phase 3 DMTs in the last 10 years! (Click here to read more about this).

 

2. The LUMA study results:

Biogen and Denali Therapeutics announced their Phase 2b LUMA study of BIIB122 in early-stage Parkinson’s disease did not meet its primary or secondary endpoints; They are discontinuing development of BIIB122 in idiopath. PD (Denali is continuing BEACON study). Results “show that BIIB122 did not slow the progression of Parkinson’s vs placebo, as measured by the primary endpoint of Time to Confirmed Worsening in the modified MDS-UPDRS Part II & III combined score. Secondary endpoints also did not show a benefit with BIIB122”. “>90% kinase inhibition of peripheral LRRK2 (phosphoserine 935) &, in a CSF sub-study, up to approximately 30% reduction observed in a biomarker of LRRK2 activity (phosphorylated Rab10). Expected levels of BIIB122 in the blood & CSF were sustained across the study” (Click here to read more about this, click here for a news summary, and click here to read an SoPD post on this announcement).

 

3. The conversion of GBA1 variant carriers:

In a large longitudinal cohort study of 1,618 people with with Gaucher disease type 1 approximately 1/9 were diagnosed with Parkinson’s & more than 1/5 patients were diagnosed with PD/DLB or experienced movement disorder symptoms by 80 years of age; “Finding that most patients remain free of Parkinson’s despite very low residual enzyme activity informs the hypothesis that acid ß-glucosidase levels directly predict risk of PD”; “Understanding these modifiers could ultimately pave the way for targeted neuroprotective strategies” (Click here to read more about this).

 

4. The STEM-PD programme gets handed on:

The Novo Nordisk STEM-PD cell transplantation programme for Parkinson’s finds a new home at AI company Cellular Intelligence; Novo becomes equity investor in Cellular Intelligence & is eligible to receive future milestones and royalties (Click here to read more about this and click here for a news summary).

 

5. The imaging of synuclein in the brain:

Researchers (in collaboration with MODAG) present the development of the α-Syn PET tracer [11C]MODAG-005, providing in vitro & in vivo data (including first-in-human testing in patients with clinically established Multiple Systems Atrophy & Parkinson’s (Click here to read more about this).

 

6. The PADOVA trial results were published:

The results of the PADOVA trial have been published by Roche – this was a phase 2b, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study assessing the efficacy & safety of intravenous prasinezumab in 586 individuals with early-stage Parkinson’s; “Although PADOVA did not meet the primary endpoint, prespecified exploratory evidence suggests clinical activity of prasinezumab in early-stage Parkinson’s disease, supporting continued investigation in the ongoing phase 3 PARAISO trial (NCT07174310)” (Click here to read more about this and click here for a commentary).

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – May 2026” →

The LUMA study news

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The outcome of a major Phase 2 clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of a new class of drug – a LRRK2 inhibitor – has just been announced and the agent was found to have no impact on slowing the progression of symptoms in people with early idiopathic Parkinson’s.

The drug in question is called “BIIB122” and it has been developed by Denali Therapeutics (in partnership with the pharma company Biogen).

While the news is disappointing, we need to wait and see the full results before drawing too many conclusions. In addition, the key word in the sentences above may be “idiopathic”. The real test for this class of agent is probably still to come.

In today’s post, we will discuss the press release, review what a LRRK2 inhibitor is, and consider what this means for our theories of the underlying biology driving Parkinson’s.

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Source: Scientificamerican

When I boarded a plane in London, heading for Phoenix to attend the 2026 World Parkinson’s Congress, all was well in the world.

As I settled in my seat, I checked the news on my phone and found that everything was normal (or at least as normal as it can be in the orange fruit cake world).

When the plane touched down in Phoenix, however, the news was suddenly alive with an announcement from the biotech companies Biogen and Denali Therapeutics.

What did they report?

They said that their LUMA clinical trial had not met its primary endpoint.

What is the LUMA study? And what is a “primary endpoint”?

Continue reading “The LUMA study news” →

Monthly Research Review – April 2026

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At the end of each month, the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major or interesting pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during April 2026.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during April 2026?

In world news:

1st April – The basketball world was still recovering from the Duke vs UConn March Madness Elite Eight game: (coach Hurley’s response was a hilarious roller coaster of emotion (starting from 23 to 50 seconds in the video below) and his parents in the audience are probably still recovering (from 1.55 to 2.08 minutes – no lip-synching required!)):

 

6th April – The crew of Artemis II breaks the record for the furthest humans have ever been from Earth, reaching a maximum distance of 252,757 miles (406,773 km) as they travel around the far side of the Moon (Click here to read more about this).

 

7th April  – Traders placed bets worth around $950 million just hours ahead of the U.S. and ​Iran announced a ​two-week ceasefire (Click here to read more about this). And 10 days later (17th April) Deja vu: Traders placed bets worth about $760 million on a falling oil price just 20 minutes before U.S. and ​Iran announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was open – well,… at least someone is winning…. right??? I wonder if they are getting tired of all that winning? (Click here to read more about this).

 

22nd April – During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, the US Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, said “President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages. There’s two ways of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that’s a 600% reduction” (Click here to read more about this). Six days later, Nature published an interesting news post on how the US Government has terminated more than 100 advisory committees to science agencies – 77 of them in the National Institutes of Health (Click here to read that piece)..

 

28th April – Japan Airlines announced that they will introduce humanoid robots to become baggage handlers in a trial run at Tokyo airport amid country’s surge in inbound tourism and worsening labour shortages/demographic issues (Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In April 2026, there were 1,003 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word “Parkinson s” attached (compared to 5,177 for all of 2026). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – April 2026” →

Monthly Research Review – March 2026

~ Simon ~ 2 Comments

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At the end of each month the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during March 2026.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during March 2026?

In world news:

March 1st – An account trading under the username “Magamyman” made more than $553,000 placing bets on the prediction market site Polymarket about Iran and its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, just before an Israeli/US strike killed him (Click here to read more about this).

 

March 6th – The UK’s first long‑distance robotic-assisted surgery is reported to have been performed on a patient located 1,500 miles (2,400km) away in Gibraltar (Click here to read more about this).

 

March 12th – A red fox that sneaked onto a cargo ship in Southampton was taken into the care of the Bronx Zoo after arriving in New York (Click here to read more about this).

 

March 23rd – Mystery traders made tens of millions of dollars in mere minutes by placing bets on markets just before a surprise social media post by US President Donald Trump raising hopes of peace with Iran. Just 15 minutes before Trump’s message, there was a sudden $600 million spike in oil trading volumes and $1.5 billion on the S&P 500 stock index (Click here to read more about this – Hey Martha Stewart, you watching this?).

 

March 25th – Philippines president, Ferdinand Marcos, declared a state of “national energy emergency” as a result of the war in Iran, which his administration said posed “an imminent danger of a critically low energy supply” (Click here to read more about this) ….and next comes the developing nations debt crisis…. (watch Pakistan, Egypt and Nepal)

 

In the world of Parkinson s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In March 2026, there were 1,371 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word Parkinson s attached (4,174 for all of 2026 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – March 2026” →

Monthly Research Review – February 2026

~ Simon ~ 1 Comment

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At the end of each month, the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major or interesting pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during February 2026.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

# # # #

So, what happened during February 2026?

In world news:

1st February – In his first ever indoor mile at the Boston University Terriers classic, Kiwi runner Sam Ruthe won in a time of 3:48.88. This was the eleventh fastest time ever recorded indoors, breaking the absolute New Zealand mile record of 3:49.08 of Sir John Walker from 1982, and the New Zealand indoor mile record of 3:51.06 set by Nick Willis in 2016. In 2025, Ruthe became the youngest person to break the four-minute mile. He is only 16 years of age!

 

6th February – According to data from the European Research Council (ERC), applications from the United States for its starting, consolidator and advanced grants to individual researchers — worth up to €2.5 million (US$3 million) apiece over five years — rose by 120% in its most recent round of calls, compared with an overall rise in applications of 17%. Meanwhile, Advanced Grants — for established principal investigators — saw the greatest leap in US applications, with the number nearly quintupling in just 12 months (Click here to read more about this).

 

12th February – The Dutch House of Representatives passed the Actual Return in Box 3 Act (Wet werkelijk rendement box 3) – a reform that will tax residents at a flat rate of 36% on unrealised gains (???) earned from savings, stocks, and investments, effective January 1, 2028 (Click here to read more about this).

 

13th February – The day after being named ‘undisputed champion of beautiful clean coal’ (???), President Trump (and Lee Zeldin – the head of the Environmental Protection Agency – EPA) announced that the EPA has finalized rescinding the endangerment finding. This was the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the US Clean Air Act. When asked what he would tell people concerned about the move, Mr Trump replied, “I’d tell them don’t worry about it, because this has nothing to do with public health. It just was all a scam, a giant scam” (Click here to read more about this)

 

18th February – The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) January monthly report of Russian fossil fuel exports highlighted that the European Union remains the largest buyer of Russian liquid natural gas (LNG), accounting for almost half (49%) of Russia’s total LNG exports (Click here to read more about this).

 

In the world of Parkinson s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In February 2026, there were 1,391 research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word Parkinson s attached (2,803 for all of 2026 so far). In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 5 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – February 2026” →

Hyperconnectivity of the SCAN

~ Simon ~ 2 Comments

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It is exciting when new research comes along that reframes how we might look at a problem. New research published this week has done just that for Parkinson’s.

Researchers have analysed vast amounts of brain imaging data and found that it points towards a hyperconnectivity between Parkinson’s associated structures within the brain. They also found that current treatment approaches help to reduce this hyperconnectivity.

Using this data, the researchers conducted a clinical trial that further supports their paradigm shifting results. 

In today’s post, we will discuss what exactly they have discovered, why it is important, and how it could change how we view Parkinson’s.

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Source: Wikipedia

This is a photo of a young Wilder Graves Penfield.

He was 22 years old when this photo was taken in 1913. Playing/coaching football at Princeton, with a truly remarkable life still ahead of him.

Remarkable how?

Remarkable as in ‘eventful’.

For example, in 1915 he obtained a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, where he studied neuropathology with the greats like Sir Charles Scott Sherrington and William Osler, before he got pulled into World War I and went to France to serve as a dresser in a military hospital. He was wounded however when the boat he was aboard was torpedoed, and after recovering from his injuries he married his wife. He began studying medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, attaining his degree in 1918. All of that in just three years!

But his life was also remarkable in what he achieved in his research.

What did he do in research?

Continue reading “Hyperconnectivity of the SCAN” →

Monthly Research Review – January 2026

~ Simon ~ Leave a comment

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At the end of each month, the SoPD writes a post which provides an overview of some of the major or interesting pieces of Parkinson’s-related research that were made available during January 2026.

The post is divided into 10 parts based on the type of research:

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So, what happened during January 2026?

In world news:

January 6th – While the world events provided many distractions, the US national debt quietly reached $38.5 trillion (up from $36.1 trillion in January 2025 – that’s $69,400 per second for the past 12 months) and $600 billion has already been borrowed in the 2026 financial year, which starts in October (Source and click here to read how this might be a problem in 2026 as the Government competes with corporate debt issuance).

 

January 14th – Scientists led by the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported the first direct experimental observation of the Migdal effect, a quantum process in which a recoiling atomic nucleus ejects an electron, confirming a prediction made in 1939 and enabling new approaches to searches for light dark matter (Click here and here to read more about this).

 

January 16th – “The most rigorous analysis of the evidence to date”: An appraisal of 43 studies in a systematic review and 17 studies in the meta-analysis, involving hundreds of thousands of pregnancies, found maternal use of paracetamol during pregnancy does not seem to increase the likelihood of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, or intellectual disability (Click here and here to read more about this).

 

January 22nd – The USA officially withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO) exactly one year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office directing the withdrawal (leaving unpaid fees of $260 million – click here to read more about this).

 

23rd January – In the daily effort to “flood the zone” and distract from other matters (such as the TACO move on “Iceland”), President Trump horrified veterans and allies around the world in an interview by saying that “We’ve never needed them … They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan … and they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines” (Click here to read more about this, and remember: ‘If you haven’t served, respect those who have’)

 

In the world of Parkinson s research, a great deal of new research and news was reported:

In January 2026, there were 1,520 (!!!) research articles added to the Pubmed website with the tag word Parkinson s attached. In addition, there was a wave to news reports regarding various other bits of Parkinson s research activity (clinical trials, etc).

The top 6 pieces of Parkinson’s news

Continue reading “Monthly Research Review – January 2026” →

Research to get excited about?

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Analysing medical data at the national level can provide a means of screening for drugs that can have an impact on the progression of chronic diseases. The large datasets of millions of people offer the opportunity to see trends for particular drugs that could potentially point towards new avenues of research.

Recently researchers in Norway have conducted such a study, looking at drugs that are associated with reduced mortality in Parkinson’s. Their results identify some agents that have already been identified by previous research.

But one of the drugs they found is is getting folks excited… literally.

In today’s post, we will review the research and consider how strong some of these associations are.

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Source: Unsplash

“It was a daisy in a glass of water”

This is how red-headed, fair skinned Paul Karason described the moment that his path was determined. He had been reading a new age magazine in the 1990s about the health and rejuvenating properties of colloidal silver. And “the story was that the daisy had been desiccated before it was put back in the water. And [now] it looked like a fresh-picked daisy” (Source).

Paul sent away for a sample of colloidal silver and started consuming it.

A lot of it.

At one point he was drinking at least 10 ounces (300ml) a day. And within a month he noticed changes. “The acid reflux problem I’d been having just went away completely,” he said. “I had arthritis in my shoulders so bad I couldn’t pull a T-shirt off. And the next thing I knew, it was just gone”

But it wasn’t till a friend visited him, that he noticed another really big change.

What was the change?

Continue reading “Research to get excited about?” →

Born in exploding stars

~ Simon ~ 2 Comments

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Lithium – one of only three metals that can float on water – is widely used for in the treatment of as a mood stabilizer, primarily in the management of bipolar disorder, mania, and certain types of depression.

New research suggests that lithium may be a key piece of the puzzle that is Alzheimer’s.

Other researchers are asking if it could also be important in Parkinson’s.

In today’s post, we will look at what lithium is, review the new Alzheimer’s research, and consider if it has a possible place in Parkinson’s. 

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A nova. Source: phys.org

While the “big bang” may have created a small amounts of the stuff during the initial formation of the universe, astrophysicist now believe that the majority of our current stock of lithium has been manufactured in the nuclear reactions that have powered nova explosions in the intervening period.

I’m sorry: What?!?

Lithium.

Soft, silvery-white alkali metal.

Crucial for high-energy batteries.

Yeah, that part I am aware of. But what the heck are nova explosions?

A nova explosion is a transient event in the night sky caused the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently “new” star that slowly fades over weeks or months. It is caused by a binary star system in which the pair are too close and long-story-short: Big bright flash of light!

And that is where our lithium is made?

A lot of it, yep.

Lithium is amazing stuff. It has some amazing properties. And recently researchers have reported something interesting about it in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

What did they find?

Continue reading “Born in exploding stars” →

Reality is always so obstructive

~ Simon ~ 3 Comments

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Obstructive sleep apnea is a common condition that involves periods of pausing in breathing while one is asleep. 

Recent research indicates that people diagnosed with this condition may be at higher risk of developing Parkinson’s.

Curiously, the same research found that early treatment of the condition reduced the risk of going on to develop Parkinson’s.

In today’s post, we will discuss what obstructive sleep apnea is, what the new research found, and how this relates to other neurodegenerative conditions.

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Source: ifis

In 2024, there were 12,132 research reports published on Parkinson’s (based on a Pubmed search for the keyword “Parkinson’s”).

That is approximately 33 papers per day.

I think we can agree that that is a lot.

Now, within all of those papers, there are topics that get more attention than others. For example, if you search for the key words “Parkinson’s” and “alpha synuclein” (a hot topic in Parkinson’s) in the scientific search engine ‘Pubmed‘, you will find that there were a total of 13,310 papers from 1997 till 2024. In 2024 alone, there were 1,477 papers published  (that’s 4 papers every day!).

Then there are topics that don’t get much attention.

Like “Parkinson’s” and “sleep apnea”.

There were only 32 papers papers published in 2024 (less than three per month).

Ok. But what is sleep apnea?

Continue reading “Reality is always so obstructive” →