● Delivered by uMed and Queen Mary University of London (Queen Mary), and supported by the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2), a resource program of Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) and implemented by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the study will follow up to 1,000 participants across the UK and US to identify and track the earliest biological changes linked to the disease.

● AccessBrainHealth will generate one of the most comprehensive datasets of pre-diagnostic Parkinson’s biology to date by combining comprehensive biological sampling - including blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) - with long-term electronic health record data and patient-reported outcomes.

● Parkinson’s disease affects more than 10 million people worldwide, but by the time it is diagnosed, the damage is often irreversible. By detecting the disease earlier, AccessBrainHealth aims to create new opportunities to intervene sooner and improve outcomes for patients.

● With uMed’s strategic partnership with WellSky, the study expands across the US, giving patients at more than 10,000 home-based care organisations the opportunity to participate.

● In parallel, UK participant recruitment is being delivered through NHS partnerships and Queen Mary's clinical leadership, working to bolster international efforts to accelerate disease-modifying therapies.

● The study’s initial focus is on identifying early changes associated with Parkinson's, but is also intended to help early identification of other brain-related diseases.

‍

Dr Matt Wilson, CEO and Founder of uMed, commented:

“AccessBrainHealth represents a step-change in how we study Parkinson’s disease. For the first time, we are combining the scale and real-world reach of a decentralised research platform with the depth of biomarker science - and doing so in populations that have too often been overlooked. If we can redefine the earliest chapter of the Parkinson’s story to detect Parkinson’s earlier, we have a real opportunity to change its course.”

‍

Parkinson’s disease develops silently over many years due to its prolonged preclinical phase during which pathological processes are already active, often for years or even decades before diagnosis. By the time motor symptoms appear, and a diagnosis is confirmed, substantial and irreversible neurological damage has typically occurred.

Identifying people at the earliest biological stages of the disease is one of the most pressing challenges, and a priority for Parkinson’s research. This will help provide the key to development and evaluation of effective disease-modifying therapies.

Participants will continue to be followed over time through uMed’s ACCESS platform, a research platform that enables large groups of people to take part in studies through their everyday healthcare, whilst researchers track their real-world health outcomes over time, with ongoing electronic health data linkage and regular patient-reported outcome tracking. Unlike traditional studies, this approach enables continuous, real-world follow-up at scale, helping to generate more complete and representative data on how Parkinson’s develops over time.

‍

A transatlantic delivery model

AccessBrainHealth will recruit participants across both the UK and the US. In the UK, clinical leadership will be provided by Queen Mary and participating clinical research facilities, with Professor Alastair Noyce - a leading authority on Parkinson’s disease and its earliest stages - serving as Coordinating Investigator.

“The window before Parkinson’s is clinically diagnosed is where the greatest scientific opportunity lies - and the greatest practical difficulty,” says Professor Noyce. “AccessBrainHealth has been designed to meet that challenge: recruiting from an engaged participant cohort, collecting high-quality biological samples under a rigorous clinical protocol, and linking those samples to long-term health data. I’m delighted to be leading this study to understand more about the earliest stages of neurological disease.”

‍Across the US, uMed will continue to partner with WellSky to identify and engage eligible participants through its extensive network of home-based care organisations. By combining WellSky’s network with uMed’s automated registry platform, the collaboration creates a scalable, transatlantic model for collecting high-quality biological samples from patients - particularly underserved, rural, and agieng populations - who want to participate in Parkinson’s disease research

‍

Notes to editors

Media contact: Serena Macleod serena.macleod@umed.io

About AccessBrainHealth:

https://accessall.umed.io/About

‍

About uMed

uMed is a healthcare evidence-generation technology company addressing the critical evidence gaps needed to accelerate the delivery of new medicines and innovations to patients. Through its ACCESS Research Platform, embedded across a growing network of healthcare institutions in the UK and US, uMed enables researchers to rapidly engage patients and generate insights from the decentralised collection of electronic health records, clinical outcomes, patient-reported data, and bio-samples. uMed was founded by Dr Matt Wilson, an NHS doctor and anaesthesiologist, and works with leading pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers worldwide.

‍

About ACCESS research platform

ACCESS is an integrated, longitudinal, decentralised population research platform with embedded disease-specific cohorts and biological sample collection, sponsored by CohortScience Ltd and delivered operationally by uMed.

‍

About Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition that affects movement, as well as a range of non-motor functions. It is caused by the loss of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain. Around 1 in 37 people in the UK will be diagnosed with Parkinson’s in their lifetime, with more than 10 million people affected worldwide. Symptoms develop gradually and can include tremor, stiffness and slowed movement, alongside fatigue, sleep disturbances and cognitive changes. While treatments are available to help manage symptoms, there is currently no cure and no proven way to slow or stop disease progression.

‍

About WellSky

WellSky® is one of America’s largest and most innovative healthcare technology companies, leading the movement for intelligent, coordinated care. In today’s value-based care environment, WellSky connects providers, payers, health systems, life sciences companies, and community organisations through AI-powered software, analytics, and services. Our solutions help organisations scale smarter, collaborate more effectively, and unlock data-driven insights. The result is better alignment across all dimensions of clinical and social care - supporting better outcomes and lower costs. WellSky serves more than 20,000 client sites - including the largest hospital systems, blood banks, cell therapy labs, home health and hospice franchises, post-acute providers, government agencies, and human services organisations. With more than 40 years of industry expertise further amplified by AI, WellSky anticipates clients’ needs and innovates relentlessly to shape the future of coordinated care. For more information, visit wellsky.com/life-sciences/

‍

References

1. Parkinson's Foundation. "About Parkinson's Disease." Last accessed June 2026 https://www.parkinson.org/library/fact-sheets/about-parkinsons

‍