About PD Brief
Parkinson's research is advancing at a rapid rate. However, the spread of this knowledge to the general public has been slower.
Oftentimes, the findings are published in journals that are difficult to access or written in jargon meant for specialists to comprehend. Smaller studies can be overlooked, which is the gap that PD Brief was created to fill.
What PD Brief does
Every week, I read newly published research on Parkinson's and translate the complex jargon into comprehensible content. Each issue will strive to explain what the researchers set out to learn, their methods of conducting their research, their eventual findings, and why their work matters.
Issues will take around five to ten minutes to read. No scientific background is required: making this knowledge available to the public is my main goal. Technical terms used in issues will be explained and collected in the glossary.
About the editor
I'm Caiden Sun, a high school student, and I founded PD Brief in August 2026.
I started it to spread awareness and to make research like this accessible to the general public, not just to scientists. My grandfather has Parkinson's, so making the disease and the challenges that come with it clearer for everybody is important to me.
I'm not a doctor or a researcher. Each issue links to the paper it's based on, so you can check what I wrote. If I got something wrong, tell me on the questions page and I'll fix it and note the correction on that issue.
Who this is for
PD Brief is for anyone who wants to follow what's new in Parkinson's research without sifting through all of the complex language. This includes people who are living with Parkinson's, their families and caregivers who want to learn more, and curious students who want to explore the field.
How studies are chosen
Since there are many more papers than I could ever hope to cover, I look to choose papers that report something new and exciting. Papers I select will come from peer-reviewed journals every time, so every study will be trustworthy.
Editorial policy
Independence. PD Brief isn't affiliated with any journal, university, drug company, patient organisation or funder, and nobody pays for coverage. I also build Resona, a research project that looks for signs of Parkinson's in people's voices. PD Brief doesn't cover it, and any issue about voice research will say that I work in the area.
AI. Every word of every issue is mine. I don't use AI to write them. The website's code was written with AI assistance, and so were the glossary, the How we read a study page and parts of this page.
Honesty about uncertainty. Most research findings are provisional. Every issue says how much weight a result can bear and has a section on what the study doesn't show.
No medical advice. PD Brief explains research. It doesn't recommend treatments, and nothing here should be used to make decisions about anyone's care. Those conversations belong with your neurologist.
Corrections. Mistakes will happen. When I find one, I fix it and add a note at the bottom of the issue saying what changed.
Credit. Every issue links to the original paper, with its authors, journal and DOI. The findings belong to the researchers who did the work.
Get in touch
Questions, corrections and suggestions for studies to cover are all welcome. The easiest way to reach me is the questions page, and every message gets read.