Hi everyone, below is the content of the June Data Community Newsletter we sent out via email on June 5th. Let us know if you didn’t receive it, or if you have topics you’d like to see in future newsletters!
June 2026 Data Community Newsletter
Collaboration Opportunities
Below are several opportunities for collaboration, posted recently by other community members. You can read more about each project and connect with the appropriate contact at via the linked discussion threads below:
- The MDS Clinical Outcome Assessments program is seeking volunteers for RedCap translations of MDS Scales
- @Nastya is seeking input from researchers working with motor assays in mouse PD models.
- @gdp22 is looking for members (and potential collaborators) who have analyzed Fox Insight genetic data and sorted out people who are GBA vs. non-GBA carriers.
- @dicara is looking for collaborators interested in working on a project investigating lipid metabolism and disease state in humans.
Task Forces - Recruitment Open!
Our community hosts 4 task forces which were created to both address community needs as well as produce resources for the PD research community at large. These efforts rely on member contribution and we hope you’ll join one (or more) detailed below:
- Mentorship and Training - Led by: @psaffie & @malosco
- Working to design programs and resources to help train the next generation of Parkinson’s disease researchers, this task force’s current projects include the design and launch of a DCoP-wide mentor-mentee program, as well as the management and execution of 5 small-scale training awards for early career researchers.
- Data Modality and Methodology - Led by: @ehutchins & @hirotaka
- This group has created various subgroups to address data-specific needs identified by task force members. The subgroups’ scopes include:
- Focused PPMI Tools
- Imaging Interest
- Data Exploration and Processing
- Open Science Resources
- Epi-methods
- This group has created various subgroups to address data-specific needs identified by task force members. The subgroups’ scopes include:
- Networking and Outreach - Led by: @Vidash & @ecebayram
- Working to create a robust support system for researchers and practitioners working with Parkinson’s disease, this task force is focused on growing both the quantity and quality of meaningful connections in our community, as well as working to ensure DCoP presence at major PD conferences throughout the year.
- Visual Resource Generation - Led by: @vdardov & @paularp
- Continuing their work to provide the community with visual resources around PD research, this group’s current work includes:
- Coordinating monthly DCoP webinars
- Developing a new PD symptom wheel
- Creating a PD research landscape diagram
- Continuing their work to provide the community with visual resources around PD research, this group’s current work includes:
We are always interested in supporting community-led efforts. If there is another task force you are interested in leading or assessing community interest in, please let us know by reaching out to researchcommunity@michaeljfox.org or by completing the programming suggestion form.
Resources and Ongoing Conversations
- @psaffie highlighted @MichelleSchmidt’s WPC ‘26 poster which presented a systematic review on subterritory-specific GPi DBS targeting and cognitive/neuropsychiatric outcomes in Parkinson’s disease.
- @avzelatis asked about Fox Insight variables, data dictionaries, and response encoding.
- @AmgadDroby shared an overview of reproducible neuroimaging pipelines for PD research.
- @vcatterson started a discussion on the efficacy of targeting biomarkers in current approaches in AD/PD research.
Welcome New Members!
We encourage you to reach out to our new members and extend a warm welcome to the community! Some of our new members include:
- @MichelleSchmidt (Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences)
- @Nastya (California Institute of Technology)
- @jeanfontana (Rio de Janeiro State University)
- @Dean_Hammond (Liverpool John Moores University)
- @hasan8507 (People’s Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region)
That’s it for now – thanks for being members of our growing community. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, we look forward to hearing from you! If you know of colleagues or other researchers who would be interested in joining, feel free to direct them to this forum (rcop.michaeljfox.org) where they can set up an account.