Developing a Virtual Research Environment in the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative: myPPMI

In the 15 years since Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) launched, research conduct has advanced with broader connectivity, enabling virtual and hybrid methods for recruitment, engagement, education, and data collection. To meet evolving needs, PPMI created “myPPMI,” which has grown from an informational portal to a multi-country, participant-centered, virtual research environment integrating education, screening, e-consent, longitudinal non-motor and motor assessments, and biospecimen referral. Built on a secure, cloud-native architecture with daily analytics and a multi-tier support model, myPPMI enables precision recruitment, real-time eligibility matching, and standardized low-burden data capture across studies. The platform is designed to enable focused data collection from individuals or groups based on the data they have already provided. This strategy provides the tools to establish precise subsets of high interest that could be targeted for further data acquisition. Usability testing and rapid global scaling demonstrate a generalizable, decentralized framework for biomarker-driven, Parkinson's disease research. ANN NEUROL 2026.