Boosting Preclinical Parkinson's Disease Research in Africa

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disease in the world and appears to be an emerging epidemic in Africa, where counteractive measures have become necessary. Previous reports have highlighted the limited epidemiological and clinical PD research in Africa but overlooked the poor preclinical PD research output of the continent. Because preclinical research is a bedrock for translating basic scientific research into clinical practice, a weak preclinical research foundation can hamper advancement in epidemiological and clinical investigations. The sparsity and low impact of preclinical PD research output in African countries compared to high-resource countries underscores the need for pragmatic measures to close the research gap. An improved funding of brain research in African institutions-ensuring provision of facilities and infrastructure for cutting-edge research, adequate remuneration for researchers, and policies to curtail brain drain-will stimulate preclinical PD research in Africa and contribute to stemming the spiraling global PD incidence.