Think tank outlines 8 key steps to eliminate Parkinson’s

Research funding, chemical bans among suggestions from experts

Written by Marisa Horak, MS | Oct. 16, 2026

• Experts outlined an eight-step strategy focused on primary prevention to eliminate Parkinson’s disease and address rising incidence rates.
• Key risk factors include genetic variations and environmental exposures to toxic chemicals like paraquat and trichloroethylene.
• Primary prevention efforts require policy changes to ban harmful chemicals and $600 million in annual NIH research funding.

In late 2025, the Parkinson’s Foundation and the Fixel Institute at the University of Florida brought together dozens of experts to ask a bold question: What will it take to bring about a world where no one has Parkinson’s disease?

Now, that group — the Parkinson’s Disease Prevention Think Tank — has put out a paper outlining the key steps that will need to be taken. The paper, “Primary prevention of Parkinson’s disease: proceedings, the 8C’s and a position statement from the Parkinson’s disease prevention think tank,” was published in npj Parkinson’s disease.

The group identified what it called “eight Cs,” priority actions needed to eliminate the disease: Count incidence and prevalence, conduct studies, create policy change — this includes urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban toxic chemicals linked to Parkinsons’ — counsel on risk, communicate clearly, form coalitions across disease organizations, apply cross-disciplinary approaches involving health economists and toxicologists, and financial commitment in the form of $600 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

“Our goal is to draw attention to primary prevention by advancing research and shaping policy,” Sneha Mantri, MD, chief medical officer of the Parkinson’s Foundation and the paper’s lead author, said in a foundation press release. “ Our report outlines the actions needed on the individual and system level to make this vision a reality.”