Parkinson's Research Foundation.
A charity with the necessary cultural dynamics to drive progress in Parkinson's disease research in Australia.
We take a different approach
Our essential, catalytic approach involves finding key areas of Parkinson's disease research where we can generate the greatest impact. We are prepared to take significant financial risks to support innovative projects that have been held back by traditional organisations, structures and approaches.
Our mission
Our mission is to:
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assist the research and development of selected Parkinson’s disease therapies
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accelerate the availability of those therapies
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support and facilitate the generation of objective data on the development of Parkinson’s disease to enable more successful clinical trials.
Our project areas
Our projects are mainly in the areas of medical and pharmacological research, drug verification through clinical trials, and the development of educational and training materials to develop stakeholders’ understanding of Parkinson’s disease.
About us.
Our
strategy.
We support a small number of promising projects
By focussing on a few projects, PRF can better exercise its collective management experience to channel resources into key areas of research, and accordingly influence the ongoing trajectory of research.
We support research projects with a high potential for commercialisation
PRF supports projects that, after initial funding support, will be able to financially support themselves in the long term. PRF aims to get research projects to a point where they can be reviewed and funded for commercialisation by venture capital firms.
We provide funding for the founding phase of each project
PRF intends to make a funding commitment to the research phase of each project, subject to agreed milestones. This approach takes into account the five-year average duration of major research projects, which terminate either on the achievement of a major milestone or the failure to meet the technical targets.
We take an active role in each project
As well as having very frequent review sessions, PRF representatives will take an active role in each project’s regular review cycle. This approach allows PRF to offer ongoing financial support and relieves the research team of the need to apply for new grants as research progresses.
Our current projects.
University of Wollongong
PRF has made a substantial donation to the work of the Molecular Horizons group at the University of Wollongong. Led by Pofessor Lezanne Ooi, the team in Wollongong has been doing outstanding work researching the environmental influences on the progression of Parkinson’s Disease. By funding the purchase of a new equipment PRF has allowed the team to increase it’s productivity by some sixty times.
Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI)
In 2026 Miriax contracted with CMRI to undertake groundbreaking work into the potential for gene therapy and in particular AAV therapy to be used in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease. Unfortunately, the process did not prove useful and the project was abandoned after some 6 months work. A major seminar was organised by PRF to review the subject.
WEHI Partnership
PRF has partnered with the WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) Parkinson’s Disease Research Centre to drive innovation in the Parkinson's drug research and development process.
The partnership combined WEHI's globally recognised scientific talent with PRF's strategic management expertise to pursue one clear goal: to intensify the search for drug treatments to stop Parkinson’s.
PRF Founder Dr Richard Balanson said: “This project is just the beginning. We have an ambitious vision of a different way of supporting researchers with the aim of delivering results quicker, and the team at WEHI fit that vision.”
The WEHI Parkinson’s Disease Research Centre – which takes a multi-disciplinary approach to tackling Parkinson’s – has a series of promising drug discovery projects based on recent breakthroughs. PRF has provided substantial contributions to this work over the last 18 months.
For more information, see the WEHI website.
The MOOC Project
Our first project with the Tasmania Parkinson’s Project and the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre (initiatives of the University of Tasmania) is the development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which will be a key communication and learning platform for people with Parkinson’s disease.
The Parkinson's MOOC, launched in February 2025, addresses the current dearth of quality information available to people with Parkinson’s disease by providing participants with in-depth knowledge about Parkinson's disease, its symptoms, treatments, and the latest research advancements.
The MOOC will also serve as an effective healthcare tool by enabling more sophisticated communication between people with Parkinson’s disease and healthcare professionals.
For more information and to enrol, see the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre website.
Our project partners.
University of Wollongong
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Children's Medical Research
(CMRI)
Tasmania Parkinson's Project
Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre