This week — thanks in large part to the advocacy efforts of the Parkinson’s disease (PD) community — the U.S. Senate struck down a piece of legislation that could have negatively impacted the PD research program at the Department of Defense (DoD).
Troops are routinely exposed to a wide range of toxins and other events, such as head trauma, that may lead to the onset of PD. The DoD’s Parkinson’s research program, which has funded over $390 million in PD research since its inception in 1997, seeks to understand how these exposures occur; the incidence of disease; and how these conditions may be prevented, treated or cured to better protect military personnel while they serve our country.
Two provisions in the Senate had the potential to negatively impact this program, which is the only government-funded research program specifically dedicated to Parkinson’s disease. The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) asked its community of patients, loved ones, clinicians and researchers to contact their senators and relay the importance of this program. Nearly 2,500 individuals sent emails to their elected officials and spoke out in support of PD research. Thank you to our community for their advocacy efforts!
MJFF acknowledges the following senators who led the movement to protect research funding at the DoD:
