The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has announced the winners of the Ken Griffin Alpha-Synuclein Imaging Competition, a program aimed at developing an imaging tracer for Parkinson's disease research.

Funded in part by a $7.5 million gift from hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin, the $10 million competition sought breakthroughs in the development of a tracer that could help visualize alpha-synuclein in the brains of people with Parkinson's. Alpha-synuclein — a protein found in the brains of nearly all six million people living with the disease — is believed to harm brain cells and result in Parkinson's symptoms; it is currently visible only through post-mortem tissue analysis. Successful development of a tracer, which would be used in a PET scan to visualize the presence of the protein in the living brain, could accelerate the development of new therapies for Parkinson's and serve as an important new diagnostic tool.

Three teams — from AC Immune in Lausanne, Switzerland; Mass General Brigham in Boston; and Merck in Kenilworth, New Jersey — will receive grants totaling $8.5 million. The team that makes the most progress over the next two years will be awarded an additional $1.5 million to move the tool from the lab to the clinic.

"The potential of this tracer is immense. Instead of relying on symptoms to diagnose Parkinson's, physicians could look at what is happening in the brain, in real time, paving the way for earlier diagnosis," said MJFF chief executive Todd Sherer. "And researchers developing therapies to target alpha-synuclein will be able to see how well their drug is working. An alpha-synuclein imaging tracer would increase the odds of success for therapies in trials today."

(Image credit: Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research)