Marine Corps veteran Nate Jolliff (right) joins fellow advocates at the 2025 Parkinson's Policy Forum on Capitol Hill.
Of the 1 million people in the United States living with Parkinson’s, more than 110,000 are military veterans. That’s why The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) maintains an active public policy strategy to ensure that federal programs like the Parkinson’s Research Program (PRP) at the U.S. Department of Defense are well supported.
This Veterans Day, as we honor those who have served our country, we’re asking you to join us in urging Congress to restore funding for the PRP. Last year’s federal budget reduced overall medical research funding at the Department of Defense, pausing vital Parkinson’s research opportunities at the PRP. Current budget proposals for 2026 do not aim to restore any funding.
Join the effort to restore funding for the PRP by sending a letter to your members of Congress today.
A Unique Federal Commitment to Understanding Parkinson’s
The PRP is one of the only federally funded government research programs dedicated exclusively to Parkinson’s disease. It was established, in part, because patient advocates pushed for a better understanding of why veterans seemed to be experiencing higher-than-average rates of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.
The initiative investigates increased Parkinson’s risk from stressors associated with military service such as chemical exposure and traumatic brain injury. The program also funds research that is not specific to military-related risks to aid in the development of treatments that can relieve Parkinson’s symptoms and slow the progression of the disease.
“This funding is vital to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and deliver meaningful progress for both civilians and veterans,” said Marine Corps veteran Nate Jolliff, who lives with Parkinson’s. Nate was nominated by MJFF to serve on the PRP’s Consumer Review Panel, a group of patients and care partners who weigh in on which research is most meaningful to the Parkinson’s community.
“This funding is vital to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and deliver meaningful progress for both civilians and veterans.”
Encouraging and Supporting Collaborative Research
The PRP also encourages the collaboration of researchers from different disciplines, according to Sheila Fleming, PhD, and Caryl Sortwell, PhD, scientists who have received PRP grant funding.
With their first PRP grant, Drs. Fleming and Sortwell conducted pre-clinical research on exercise in Parkinson’s, a topic that according to the researchers may not be a fit for other funders. Their PRP study relied on the use of a model that a group of researchers including Dr. Sortwell previously developed with support from MJFF and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. In this model, rats are injected with synthetic alpha-synuclein, the protein that is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease.
In their PRP study, the researchers exercised the rats after injecting them with alpha-synuclein. Dr. Sortwell then tracked how Parkinson’s disease-related changes like alpha-synuclein clumping and dopamine loss — the chemical that coordinates movement and that brain cells stop producing as Parkinson’s develops — unfolded in the rats’ brains. Dr. Fleming assessed how the exercise affected the rats’ motor symptoms like walking and non-motor symptoms such as cognition.
The researchers found that exercise improved walking and cognitive function in the rats but did not affect alpha-synuclein clumping or dopamine levels. This finding suggests that something else about exercise — beyond these known factors — may help ease Parkinson’s symptoms.
To further pursue this line of research, Drs. Fleming and Sortwell received a second grant, the PRP Synergistic Idea Award, which supports innovative scientific investigation to address core questions in Parkinson’s. “The beauty of this award is that it creates an equal partnership among investigators, encouraging true collaboration and integration of different areas of expertise,” said Dr. Sortwell. Renewed funding is essential for the PRP to keep advancing new projects and innovative collaborations like these.
"The beauty of this award is that it creates an equal partnership among investigators, encouraging true collaboration and integration of different areas of expertise."
Lived Experience Is Central to PRP Grantmaking
Another important feature of the PRP is its emphasis on involving people who are directly affected by Parkinson’s throughout the grantmaking process. Through the program’s Consumer Review Panel, people with Parkinson’s provide valuable insights to guide research priorities and ensure projects stay focused on what matters most to the Parkinson’s community. “The involvement of consumer advocates, including patients and care partners, makes receiving a PRP award extra meaningful,” said Dr. Fleming.
“The involvement of consumer advocates, including patients and care partners, makes receiving a PRP award extra meaningful.”
“I felt honored taking a call from the head of federal government relations at MJFF, who asked me to serve on the panel,” said Jolliff, who was nominated in early 2025. “I was compelled and inspired to dive in with a rare opportunity to make a difference.”
Jolliff hasn’t had a chance to serve on the panel since the PRP lost its funding earlier this year. If PRP funding resumes, his priority as a member of the panel would be to think about research through the lens of an active service member of the armed forces, with a focus on finding a cure for Parkinson’s. He has a vested interest in the topic as he believes his Parkinson’s was caused by exposure to contaminated drinking water while serving at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
“Reinstating the [PRP] matters because people living with Parkinson’s are up against a ticking clock as disease progression continues its march,” Nate said. “We’re determined not to let Parkinson’s define who we are and to build a safe space to seek support and build connections within the Parkinson’s community. We have a powerful voice for advocacy.”
You Can Help Keep This Vital Research Moving Forward
Every U.S. veteran deserves to know how military service may impact their health, including increasing risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The PRP plays a unique and important role in the research landscape, funding studies that may help prevent Parkinson’s in future generations of veterans.
Your voice matters. Use our short form to send a letter to your members of Congress to urge them to restore PRP funding. Together, we can help ensure that this critical program continues to explore military-related risk factors and contribute to the development of improved Parkinson’s therapies.