Abstract
The Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP) is a multi-site study designed to identify Parkinson's disease (PD) biomarkers that can be used to improve the understanding of PD pathophysiology and to develop tools that provide novel measures to evaluate PD clinical trials. The PDBP consortium comprises numerous individual projects of which two are specifically geared to the development of brain imaging markers for diagnosis, progression, and prognosis of PD or related disorders. All study data from PD patients, atypical Parkinsonian patients, patients with essential tremor, and healthy controls collected from the sites are integrated in the PDBP database and will be publically available. All subjects are asked to submit blood samples, and undergo a battery of clinical evaluations that cover motor, cognitive, and other background information. In addition, a subset of subjects contributed cerebrospinal fluid samples. A restricted access, web-based Data Management Resource facilitates rapid sharing of data and biosamples across the entire PD research community. The PDBP consortium is a useful resource for research and collaboration aimed at the discovery of biomarkers and their use in understanding the pathophysiology of PD.