BERKELEY — UC Berkeley’s Molecular Therapeutics Initiative (MTI) has launched a new funding program to accelerate drug discovery for Parkinson’s disease and related synucleinopathies. The call seeks translational projects that move from mechanism to tractable leads, drawing on Berkeley strengths in chemical biology, structural and cell biology, data science/AI, and deep ties to biotech.
“Parkinson’s urgently needs bold, new mechanism-grounded therapeutics,” said MTI executive director Dr. Julia Schaletzky. “We’re pairing campus discoveries with real drug-hunting infrastructure—screening, medicinal chemistry, and developability support—so teams can turn promising biology into leads with a clear path to the clinic.”
Up to three awards will be made, each providing $90,000 in direct costs for one year, with a potential second year contingent on milestones. Trainees—students and postdocs—may apply as lead PIs with a faculty supporter. Awardees receive funded access to MTI’s small-molecule screening and MTI-supported medicinal chemistry resources that do not draw down the award budget. Funds must be used, at least in part, for discovery activities such as assay development, screening and hit validation, target engagement, PK/PD, early developability, and generation of tool compounds, biologics, and biomarkers.
Priority areas span core PD biology, including α-synuclein aggregation and clearance, lysosomal/GBA1 pathways, LRRK2–Rab signaling, PINK1–Parkin mitophagy/mitochondrial quality control, neuroinflammatory mechanisms in microglia and astrocytes, and circuit-level resilience of dopaminergic neurons. Projects advancing first- or best-in-class modalities—induced-proximity strategies, HTS- and structure-guided small molecules, and biologics or nucleic-acid approaches—are encouraged, particularly when using human-relevant systems (iPSC-derived midbrain neurons/astrocytes/microglia, organoids) and disease-relevant model organisms.
“This program is about translation – we want rigorous science that points to druggable hypotheses, target engagement and move quickly toward quality candidates.”
Roberto Zoncu
Faculty Director, MTI
How to apply:
Submit a two-page project summary (references excluded) outlining background and rationale, target and modality, approach and models, concrete Year-1 milestones, and envisioned renewal milestones, plus a separate detailed budget. Cross-disciplinary teams that integrate disease biology and pharmacology with chemistry, assay development, modeling, and biomarker strategy are encouraged. Applications are accepted from UC Berkeley PIs and collaborators and should be emailed to mtiinnovation@berkeley.edu by 11/16/2025. Program details and MTI capabilities are available at moleculartherapeutics.org.
Awardees will meet quarterly with the MTI Executive Committee to review progress and refine translational plans.
Media contact: MTI, Li Ka Shing, 344A, Berkeley, CA 94720 • mti@berkeley.edu • (510) 664-5364.
