NEW YORK (April 20, 2021) — The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) announced that during its Board meeting on March 11, 2021, three new members were appointed to the Board of Directors — Melanie Bolch Isbill, Alex Krys and Jack Quinn. Each provides a diverse and robust track record of leadership in the public and private sectors that will be instrumental in supporting the Foundation’s critical mission of finding a cure and accelerating better treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Launched in 2000, the Foundation works urgently to identify and fund the most promising ideas in PD research. Over the course of its short history, MJFF has fostered an engaged community — including a now 50-member Board of Directors — who generously share their wisdom and counsel in service of our goals.
Melanie Bolch Isbill is Chief Marketing Officer of RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc. (RPI), an Atlanta-based, family-owned retail company that owns and operates more than 700 RaceTrac and RaceWay stores in the southern United States and a mix of subsidiaries, including Metroplex, its fuel supplying company, and Energy Dispatch, which hauls fuel for RPI. Isbill’s father, RaceTrac Executive Chairman and MJFF Patient Council member Carl Bolch Jr., has lived with PD since 2007; her grandfather also lived with the disease. Both Isbill and Carl Bolch Jr. are graduates of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Alex Krys is managing member and co-founder of Juniper Capital Partners, LLC, an investment firm focused on assets and investments that require significant financial and operational restructuring, as well as Juniper Real Estate Investment Advisors, which is focused on specific real estate investments. Born in Argentina, Krys is enthusiastic about helping the Foundation expand its work to reach more Spanish-speaking patients and families impacted by PD. His brother, Grammy Award-winning producer and MJFF Patient Council member Sebastian Krys, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2018.
Jack Quinn, a former United States congressman for New York, is the senior advisor for public and community relations at the law firm Barclay Damon LLP, which has offices in the Northeastern United States and Toronto. Quinn, a past President of Erie Community College, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014, nearly a decade after his younger brother was diagnosed with the same disease. As an MJFF director, he will leverage his Washington D.C. experience and network to position the Foundation’s public policy efforts in front of lawmakers.
“Our strategy since day one has been to bring the best and sharpest minds to our mission to end Parkinson’s,” said Michael J. Fox. “Melanie, Alex and Jack each bring smarts and exceptional talent to task in supporting our work. We are grateful to have them on the team, and we look forward to working together.”
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About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding $1 billion in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world.
For more information, visit us at www.michaeljfox.org, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Allison Boiles
The Michael J. Fox Foundation
aboiles@michaeljfox.org
212-509-099