Where has the comprehensive approach approach gotten us? In over 40 years of research, Sinemet despite its downfalls is still our only really proven treatment. We still have no common measuring point to develop blood or cerebro spinal fluid tests. When Andy Grove got involved in funding PD research, he made the key observation that never before had he seen people work so hard and achieve so little.

Andy Grove's Last Stand.

What Little is envisioning is revolutionary. He, along with Brin and Grove, are taking the medical research industry to the next level. They recognize we have a model that excels in generating a lot of info and data but scarcely makes anything of it. When does anyone and step back and say why no real progress? Andy Grove is doing just that at UCSF; they designed the virus vector after studying the Amgen records within five years of their aborted trials. That is being used in the Ceregene trials and will be used in the NIH GDNF trials. These guys, along with MJFF, are the only reason we seem to be making any progress.

I think Little's research is huge; if it pans out, we have one element that links us all, so we finally have that much desired point of measure to use in both diagnosis and tracking progression. Soccertese, you are right. Much literature already exists on vocal and speech changes in PD. From what i gather, Little is using that info and data, then using mathematical algorithms to make it useful. He essentially using what is already proven in many other studies and synthesizing it. How do you put that through phase trials? It either works, or it doesn't.

I do think the app development stuff a bit premature, but I don't think Little is being hyped.