The Personalized Parkinson Project (PPP)

The Personalized Parkinson Project proposes an unbiased approach to biomarker development with multiple clinical, genomic and other molecular, and imaging biomarkers measured in a large population, measured at 3 time points (baseline visit, one year follow-up, and two years' follow-up). In addition, the study protocol includes day-to-day patient monitoring with a multisensor wearable device, the Verily Study Watch, that continuously collects data (movement, pulse, skin temperature, ambient information) and allows for real-time data collection between study visits. The goal of the device is to collect high-resolution, continuous biological signals from the body. These measurements of physiology, activity, and environmental conditions over the course of a 2-year study will be used to create a quantified functional assessment of patients with PD. Mapping these signals with clinical outcomes such as disease progression will allow the investigators to evaluate the relationship between biosensor data and the clinical variables, genotypic, and imaging biomarkers collected in the study.

This study is intended to create a unique resource of genotypic, functional, and phenotypic data collected longitudinally on a cohort of Dutch subjects with PD (n=650), allowing the Research Collaborators to address a series of hypothesis-driven research questions. The aim is to develop novel etiological insights, to identify biomarkers that can assist in predicting differences in prognosis and treatment response between patients, to improve existing treatments, to develop new therapeutic approaches, and to develop a more precise and personalized disease management approach.

Additionally, the cohort will serve as a source of data that can be accessed by qualified researchers worldwide, allowing them to add their research capacity to further address the main aims of this study. For this reason, data governance will be managed by dedicated advisory boards and data review committees, as specified in the study protocol. Participation in this study and results from this study will not be used for patient treatment decisions.

The aim of this study is threefold:

• The primary objective of the study is to perform a set of hypothesis-driven analyses on the study data set, aiming to correlate established biomarkers (obtained clinically, from brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), from known genetic factors, and from monitoring of biosensors signals) to the rate of disease progression, and to responses to treatment (both pharmacological and behavioral, such as participation in exercise). Also, the investigators aim to identify biomarkers that can assist in predicting differences in prognosis and treatment response between patients. Finally, by developing novel etiological and pathophysiological insights, the study aims to improve existing treatments and to develop new therapeutic approaches, as a basis for development of a more precise and personalized disease management approach.
• The secondary objective of the study is to evaluate the Verily Study Watch, to assess how these devices could provide information about the function of patients with PD.
• The tertiary objective of this study is to create an extensive longitudinal dataset describing the genetic, clinical, functional, and phenotypic characteristics of a representative Parkinson's disease (PD) subject cohort (n = 650) to allow researchers to investigate important unanswered questions in PD.

Inclusion criteria

• Subject has Parkinson's disease of ≤5 years duration, defined as time since diagnosis made by a neurologist.
• Subject is an adult, at least 18 years of age.
• Subject can read and understand Dutch.
• Subject has completed the Informed Consent form, as approved by the Ethics Committee.
• Subject is willing, competent, and able to comply with all aspects of the protocol, including follow-up schedule and biospecimen collection.
• Subject is not a current employee or family member of employees of the institutions involved in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Subject is pregnant or breastfeeding.
• Subject is allergic to nickel.
• Subject has co-morbidities that would hamper interpretation of parkinsonian disability, such as coincident musculoskeletal abnormalities, in the opinion of the Investigator.
• Contraindicated for MRI, e.g. claustrophobia, presence of an active implant, pacemaker, insulin pump, neurostimulator, ossicle prosthesis, and/or other medical device or other non-removable metal part incompatible with MRI.
• For lumbar puncture:

• Allergy to local anesthetic agents
• Medical history of compression of spinal cord, current local skin infection at the site of the lumbar puncture, developmental abnormalities in lower spine, blood coagulopathy, anticoagulant medication (Acenocoumarol, Warfarin, Dabigatran).
• Clinical (or previous MRI) evidence of structural cerebral abnormalities that are not compatible with the performance of a lumbar puncture such as malignancies, abscess, or obstructive hydrocephalus.