Sample Prioritization Working Group

The Sample Prioritization Group is one of the three working groups making up the Monogenic Network. Our working group goal is to prioritize samples for the Monogenic Network in a manner that is fair and democratic.

We are prioritizing cases where a monogenic cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is strongly suspected. Multiple factors will be considered, including prior genetic testing with a negative result, number of affected samples available per family, availability of samples from both non-affected parents, age at PD onset, and consanguinity. We are using scoring criteria with this aim in mind. As a guide, a link to the table used for prioritization scoring can be found here.

By focusing on samples with a high chance of a monogenic cause, we hope to increase the likelihood of discovering new PD genes. We also hope to gather samples from across the world and include patients from underrepresented populations.