Todd Sherer's (CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation) To-Do list for PD researchers. Included in his list:

"And here’s another idea: Instead of holing up in our laboratories until we have enough vetted and analyzed research to enter the lengthy process of publishing a manuscript, we researchers should set aside our egos and share our data and our tools. Open-access data, nontraditional partnerships and crowdsourcing are some ways we can move the needle forward."

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...retool_Twitter

[QUOTE=Tupelo3;1017501]Todd Sherer's (CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation) To-Do list for PD researchers. Included in his list:

"And here’s another idea: Instead of holing up in our laboratories until we have enough vetted and analyzed research to enter the lengthy process of publishing a manuscript, we researchers should set aside our egos and share our data and our tools. Open-access data, nontraditional partnerships and crowdsourcing are some ways we can move the needle forward."
QUOTE]

Couldn't agree more. Share the data; Pieces of the puzzle might then start to come together.

Don't usually like to cheerlead, but I will for Todd Sherer and MJFF - they've got our backs - and are really, really smart!

I didn't know you were a researcher. That's wonderful; we've been collaborating for over a year.
Peg

Todd's proposals are to be welcomed. They will, in my opinion, increase the efficiency of research, bringing improvments in Parkinson's treatment closer.

Some of the "nontraditional partnerships" that Todd mentions should be between citizen scientists and university scientists and between citizen scientists themselves.

For citizen science to thrive we need more than just open data (though we certainly need that too). We need open infrastructure.

The biggest thing holding back citizen scientists in the PD-world is, I believe, the fear of running, even small-scale, clinical trials. We would go some way to solving this problem if we had access to "open" ethics committees.

PwP, their friends and relatives (PwP++) have a vast amount of experience and skills, much of it research relevant. And, where skills are missing, PD's relatively slow progression, gives people time to educate themselves. If we could organize PwP++, we would get, for free, thousands of extra researchers.

John