Insights and priorities from the 2025 private funders’ Parkinson's disease and related disorders large footprint data interoperability summit

Effective sharing of large datasets across traditionally siloed research domains has the power to transform conventional research practice dramatically, but has been stymied by persistent barriers to data access and interoperability. The 2025 Private Funders' Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders (PDRD) Data Interoperability Summit brought together technical leaders from North American-based private funders and research organizations engaged in large-scale neurodegenerative data efforts to address these challenges through the lens of FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles. Pre-summit activities included structured interviews, comprehensive data assessments, and preparatory exercises to identify common pain points, systemic gaps, and areas of opportunity across the data ecosystem. During the summit, participants collaboratively developed and prioritized a suite of actionable recommendations, underscoring the urgency and complexity of improving the neurodegenerative data ecosystem. Despite facing significant technical, legal, regulatory, and cultural barriers - ranging from high data management costs and privacy concerns to fragmented governance structures - participants expressed strong alignment on the need for strategic, equitable, and collaborative solutions. Here, we summarize the emerging recommendations from those discussions as well as the high-priority initiatives selected for immediate action across the funding agencies. These efforts mark a critical first step in addressing longstanding barriers and reflect a shared commitment to advancing collaborative data sharing. Continued work in this area promises to accelerate discovery and innovation, with the potential to drive significant breakthroughs in the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.