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<TD><I><FONT FACE="Times New Roman,Times"><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>About
the Parkinson's Disease Foundation...</FONT></FONT></FONT></I>&nbsp;
<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman,Times">The Parkinson's Disease Foundation
(PDF) was founded in 1957 to encourag</FONT>e and promote research into
Parkinson's disease, a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that
exhibits itself in such symptoms as tremor, stiffness and slowness of movement.
Although many strides have been made over the past four decades in the
management of the disease--beginning with the discovery of levodopa in
the 1960s, in which the Foundation played an important role-- its cause
and cure continue to elude us.&nbsp;

<P>The founder was William Black, a New York City businessman. His gift
of $5 million to Columbia University to create a research building--plus
an additional $1 million to create an endowment for the foundation itself--was
at the time the largest gift ever made to Columbia by a living donor. Under
the terms of the deed of gift, the offices and laboratories of the Parkinson's
Disease Foundation are housed rent-free at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical
Center. This subsidy, along with interest on the Foundation's bank accounts,
underwrite most of the Foundation's administrative expenses. This in turn
means that more than 95 cents of each donated dollar goes to the support
of the Foundation's medical research, education and public information
programs.&nbsp;

<P>Today, the Foundation is one of the main forces in America providing
financial support for high-caliber basic research and educational support
for families with Parkinson's and strategic leadership for greater public
recognition of the crucial need to devote intellectual and financial resources
to the solution of this terrible condition that afflicts 500,000 to one
million Americans and more than 10 million other individuals around the
world. Its work is in three main areas, as follows:&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>(1) Leadership in the Present. </FONT></FONT>Support
of the Center for Parkinson's Disease and Other Movement Disorders at the
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. The center is recognized as one of
the world's leading centers of clinical and basic research into the causes,
management and cure of Parkinson's disease. From the development of Levodopa
in the late 1960s through to studies of the efficacy of neural transplants
in the late 1990s, the center has been involved in virtually every major
development in basic science and drug development in Parkinson's disease
and other movement disorders, including "Parkinson's- Plus" disorders,
dystonia and Huntington's disease.&nbsp;

<P>The center has a core staff of 10 clinician- scientists (all of whom
have MDs with specialty training in neurology and several of whom have
PhDs or extensive experience in the basic sciences); a group of five to
seven post-doctoral fellows from different parts of the United States and
the world, most of whom return to assume leadership positions in their
home towns and countries; four experienced nurse-clinicians, who run the
clinical trials of new medications and other research projects, including
the Foundation's Brain Bank; and a professional staff of laboratory technicians,
genetics counselors and administrative personnel. The Center also has formal
and informal links to surgical and epidemiological research in other parts
of the university system, including the Department of Neurosurgery and
the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, which sponsors studies of epidemiologic
approaches to the study of neurodevelopmental disorders.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>(2) Leadership for the Future.</FONT><I><FONT SIZE=+2>
</FONT></I></FONT>Preparing Tomorrow's Leaders through a National Program
of Research Grants and Postdoctoral Fellowships. In addition to its direct
support of one of the world's leading centers of Parkinson's science, the
PDF contributes to the wider field of Parkinson's research through two
highly competitive and scientifically-refereed awards programs. One of
these is of research grants to institutions; the other, of fellowships
to young scientists.&nbsp;

<P>Since the Foundation's inception four decades ago, this role has been
central to its mission. At no time was this more evident than in November
of 1996, with the announcement, in an article appearing in the journal
Science, of the discovery of a gene for Parkinson's disease. Thirty-five
years earlier, Dr. Roger DuVoisin, then a promising young scientist and
today the senior member of the team of authors for the Sciencearticle,
assumed his position as the PDF's first postdoctoral Research Fellow. This
year, the Foundation accepted applications for the research grants program
from 24 institutions in 15 states and provinces throughout the United States
and Canada. From this list, five were selected competitively by a committee
of senior scientists from Columbia to receive research grants of up to
$35,000 a year.&nbsp;

<P>The committee's main criteria were scientific excellence and the potential
for significantly expanding our knowledge about Parkinson's in important
and practical ways. Each of the projects selected shows the potential not
only for enhancing the science of Parkinson's but also for leading into
a proposal for longer-term and larger support from the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), the premier source of research funding in America. The
other prong in the Foundation's program to nurture and support young scientists
is the postdoctoral fellowship program. Last year, the Foundation supported
eight such awards. The young doctors receive a modest stipend and some
of the best and most comprehensive training in movement disorders available
in the world.&nbsp;

<P>One measure of the success of this program is where the fellows go afterwards.
At this writing, almost every major movement disorders center in the New
York metropolitan area--Mount Sinai Medical Centers, Beth Israel Medical
Center, North Shore Hospital and others--is headed by a graduate of this
program. A companion to the postdoctoral fellows program is the Foundation's
nationwide program of summer fellowships. Last year, the Foundation sponsored
12 such awards at as many institutions, including Brown University (Providence,
RI); Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and the University of
Chicago (Chicago, IL); Ohio State University; Harvard University (Cambridge,
MA); University of Miami (Miami, FL); University of California (Irvine,
CA); University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA); Yale University (New
Haven, CT); the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY); Vanderbilt University
(Nashville, TN); and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI).&nbsp;

<P>Many of the PDF's contributions in this area over the years have been
in behalf of leading institutions abroad. Among the foreign institutions
which have sent fellows to Columbia over the years have been the Tianjin
School of Medicine (China); Hadassah Medical Center (Israel); University
of London (U.K.); University of Warsaw (Poland); University of Ottawa (Canada);
University of Madrid (Spain); University of Milano (Italy); Yamagata University
(Japan); University of Beograd (Croatia); University of Brussels (Belgium);
University of Bangalore (India)); Agios Oavlos Hospital (Greece); Haciteppe
University (Turkey); and Hospital de Especialidades (Mexico).&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>(3) Leadership in the Community.</FONT><I><FONT SIZE=+2>
</FONT></I></FONT>Informing People with Parkinson's and their Families;
Educating the Public and the Professions; Advocating for the Cause The
PDF's long-term goal may be the support of Parkinson's research but its
day-to-day mailbag and fax and telephone traffic is filled with calls for
help from patients and Parkinson's families around the country. More than
25 calls on average come in every business day over our toll-free telephone
lines from patients and their families--most typically, people who have
been recently diagnosed with Parkinson's and who are crying out for help:
information about the disease, referrals to physicians and assistance with
questions such as where to find social services, where to get health, life
and long-term-care insurance and how to combat job discrimination.&nbsp;

<P>The Foundation takes this part of its mission very seriously, through
publications, professional education, public advocacy and -- to the extent
time and professional resources permit -- personal consultation. Our regular
educational activities include:&nbsp;
<UL>
<LI>
<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>A quarterly newsletter</FONT></FONT>,
covering everything from medical news to support group successes to fundraising
activities. The content is varied but rooted in a single theme: what do
people with Parkinson's disease, and their families, want--and need--to
know? We tell them of the medications just released (and those still in
the pipeline); of the activities of the established support groups (and
those that are just forming); of the scientific achievements of the mature
scientists (and the younger ones coming along); of the few leadership gifts
(and the many, equally appreciated, smaller ones). We share tips from people
who have struggled with, and mastered, life with Parkinson's. We answer
questions from those who feel anxious and needing information. Above all,
we try to convey two simple messages: you, the individual or family who
has been diagnosed with Parkinson's, are not alone ... and your condition
is not a sentence of death, but a redefinition of life. To order the latest edition of the newsletter, <a href="./publicat.htm">click here</a>.</LI>

<LI>
<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Publications and audiovisual materials</FONT></FONT>,
including descriptions of the medical aspects of the condition; tips and
hints on how to handle it in the home and in the workplace; programs of
exercise and nutrition; and a series of fact sheets on specific aspects
of the disease and its management. - a physician referral service. The
difficulty of diagnosis in Parkinson's disease makes it especially important
for patients and their families to have access to physicians experienced
in the diagnosis and treatment of this condition and other movement disorders.
Few general physicians, and not all neurologists, are fully conversant
with a condition that may constitute less than five percent of their practice.
The role of the PDF here is to maintain files of physicians who are known
to have a special interest and expertise in Parkinson's disease and who
are interested in -- and available for --new patients. Not all scientists,
including some of the most eminent, are available to the average patient.
Our task is to identify those who are ... and to make sure that this list
is available to those who reach out to us for help. To order some of our publications, <a href="./publicat.htm">click here</a>.</LI>

<LI>
<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>In-service training and education for
the professions.</FONT></FONT> Our clinical nurse specialist is available
to meet requests from professional and lay groups--social workers, community
service people, nurses, even physicians--for up-to-date information on
the science and practice of Parkinson's disease management. Last year alone,
we provided more than 25 such sessions, at no charge.</LI>

<LI>
<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Support for support groups.</FONT></FONT>
The Foundation has corresponding relationships with more than 500 Parkinson's
support groups in more than 40 states. We circulate news and information
and answer queries as needed. We also recognize excellence in performance
by individual support groups through the annual Dorros awards. Named for
Donna and the late Sidney Dorros, legendary leaders in the Parkinson's
support group movement, the program offers two categories of award: one,
for groups run by a health and social services professional and the other,
for groups run entirely by volunteers.</LI>

<LI>
<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Raising public awareness.</FONT></FONT>
The Foundation has an active media relations program, fielding requests
for information from the mass media and arranging media appearances for
scientists and other experts in Parkinson's disease. Most recently, we
have inaugurated a Parkinson's Science News Bureau, designed to provide
serious medical and science journalists with information and analysis on
such topics as current research, emerging therapies, developments in care-giving
and the demographics, economics and culture of Parkinson's disease and
its management.</LI>

<LI>
<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Public funding.</FONT></FONT> The role
of the private sector is certainly crucial in raising private monies and
building a national constituency for support of Parkinson's disease research.
In the long term, however, the success of that research will depend upon
sufficient support from public sources, mostly through the National Institutes
of Health. In this connection, the Foundation is an active collaborator
with other organizations in building and sharing the case for increased
federal support. Our main vehicle for this is the Washington (and California)-based
Parkinson's Action Network, which we support financially and in other ways.</LI>
</UL>
<I><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>The PDF: A Chronology...</FONT></FONT></I>&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1957</FONT></FONT> Parkinson's Disease
Foundation, the oldest charitable group in the nation that is dedicated
exclusively to finding the cure and providing the care for Parkinson's
disease, was founded by William Black, a New York City businessman and
philanthropist. Dr. Melvin Yahr named as executive director and scientific
director.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1962</FONT></FONT> Dr. Roger Duvoisin
appointed ats PDF's first postdoctoral fellow. (Thirty-five years later,
Dr. Duvoisin was senior member of the team that discovered the first gene
accounting for some cases of PD). Dr. Duvoisin develops the Columbia Rating
Scale (the forerunner of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS),
developed by Dr. Stanley Fahn and colleagues in 1987), for calibrating
the severity of Parkinson's disease.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1965</FONT></FONT> Columbia University
opens the PDF laboratories on the third floor of the William Black Building
at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC). PDF sponsors its first
two scientific conferences: one on the science of the thalamus and the
other on the biochemistry and pharmacology of the basal ganglia.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1967</FONT></FONT> Dr. Margaret
Hoehn, PDF postdoctoral fellow, and Dr. Yahr publish seminal paper on the
natural history of Parkinson's disease. This included the benchmark "Hoehn
and Yahr staging system" for identifying the severity of PD.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1969</FONT></FONT> Dr.Yahr and PDF
colleagues publish the results of the first double-blind trial of levodopa,
the first medication to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1970</FONT></FONT> PDF initiates
the James Parkinson award, named for the English physician who first described
the disease that now carries his name. The honoree is Dr. Arvid Carlsson,
an pioneer in the science of dopamine.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1971</FONT></FONT> PDF initiates
program of summer fellowships for medical students, to encourage talented
your scientists to enter the field of Parkinson's disease research.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1973</FONT></FONT> Second James
Parkinson awards made to Dr. Oleh Hornykiewicz, the research scientists
who discovered the link between striatal dopamine deficiency and PD. Dr.
Stanley Fahn named as scientific director of the PDF.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1978</FONT></FONT> Dinah Tottenham
Orr named as executive director of the PDF.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1981</FONT></FONT> PDF and Columbia
University sponsor scientific symposium on experimental therapeutics for
Parkinson's disease.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1982</FONT></FONT> PDF establishes
the H. Houston Merritt Sabbatical Fellowships for visiting scientists,
named for the renowned neurologist and first president of the Foundation.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1983</FONT></FONT> PDF stages first
"open house" for people with Parkinson's and their families.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1984</FONT></FONT> Dr. Fahn, in
association with Dr. Ira Shoulson of the University of Rochester, found
the Parkinson Study Group, a consortium of leading research centers assembled
to conduct multi- center clinical trials of new drugs.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1987</FONT></FONT> On the occasion
of nits 30th anniversary, the PDF sponsors a symposium immediately before
the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Melvin Yahr
and J.William Langston, a discoverer of the neurotoxicity of MPTP, receive
the third and fourth James Parkinson awards. At the same time, the Foundation
initiates the Donna and Sidney Dorros awards, recognizing excellence in
Parkinson's support groups.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1988</FONT></FONT> PDF, along with
the United Parkinson Foundation in Chicago, create a Junior Faculty Award.
Purpose is to provide support to young scientists for Parkinson's research.
1989 Foundation creates position of nurse-specialist to help patients with
their question and provide professional leadership to support groups and
patient and family education.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1994</FONT></FONT> Several Parkinson's
organizations team up to create the Parkinson's Unity Walk, a collaborative
fundraising effort based in New York City. The proceeds go to each of the
participating organizations. The Foundation sponsors the first symposium
on the "quality of life" in Parkinson's disease.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1995</FONT></FONT> Foundation's
annual benefit dinner-dance features Muhammad Ali and Madonna.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1996</FONT></FONT> Ms. Orr retires
as executive director; Mr. Robin Elliott appointed to replace her.&nbsp;

<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1997</FONT></FONT> PDF sponsors
"Frontiers in Parkinson's Disease," a symposium celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Fifth James Parkinson award given to C. David Marsden, explorer of the
etiology, biochemistry, physiology, imaging, genetics, animal models and
therapeutics of PD. In this year also, PDF inaugurates the Parkinson's
Disease Foundation lectureship at the annual meeting of the American Academy
of Neurology. First honoree turns out to be Dr. Fahn. The Foundation participates
with other Parkinson's advocacy groups in achieving Congressional passage
and Presidential approval of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Education
and Research Act, which authorizes up to $100 million in expenditures through
the National Institutes of Health for research on Parkinson's disease.&nbsp;</TD>
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	<TD><I><FONT FACE="Times New Roman,Times"><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>About
	the Parkinson's Disease Foundation...</FONT></FONT></FONT></I>
	<BR><FONT FACE="Times New Roman,Times">The Parkinson's Disease Foundation
	(PDF) was founded in 1957 to encourag</FONT>e and promote research into
	Parkinson's disease, a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that
	exhibits itself in such symptoms as tremor, stiffness and slowness of movement.
	Although many strides have been made over the past four decades in the
	management of the disease--beginning with the discovery of levodopa in
	the 1960s, in which the Foundation played an important role-- its cause
	and cure continue to elude us.

	<P>The founder was William Black, a New York City businessman. His gift
	of $5 million to Columbia University to create a research building--plus
	an additional $1 million to create an endowment for the foundation itself--was
	at the time the largest gift ever made to Columbia by a living donor. Under
	the terms of the deed of gift, the offices and laboratories of the Parkinson's
	Disease Foundation are housed rent-free at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical
	Center. This subsidy, along with interest on the Foundation's bank accounts,
	underwrite most of the Foundation's administrative expenses. This in turn
	means that more than 95 cents of each donated dollar goes to the support
	of the Foundation's medical research, education and public information
	programs.

	<P>Today, the Foundation is one of the main forces in America providing
	financial support for high-caliber basic research and educational support
	for families with Parkinson's and strategic leadership for greater public
	recognition of the crucial need to devote intellectual and financial resources
	to the solution of this terrible condition that afflicts 500,000 to one
	million Americans and more than 10 million other individuals around the
	world. Its work is in three main areas, as follows:

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>(1) Leadership in the Present. </FONT></FONT>Support
	of the Center for Parkinson's Disease and Other Movement Disorders at the
	Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. The center is recognized as one of
	the world's leading centers of clinical and basic research into the causes,
	management and cure of Parkinson's disease. From the development of Levodopa
	in the late 1960s through to studies of the efficacy of neural transplants
	in the late 1990s, the center has been involved in virtually every major
	development in basic science and drug development in Parkinson's disease
	and other movement disorders, including "Parkinson's- Plus" disorders,
	dystonia and Huntington's disease.

	<P>The center has a core staff of 10 clinician- scientists (all of whom
	have MDs with specialty training in neurology and several of whom have
	PhDs or extensive experience in the basic sciences); a group of five to
	seven post-doctoral fellows from different parts of the United States and
	the world, most of whom return to assume leadership positions in their
	home towns and countries; four experienced nurse-clinicians, who run the
	clinical trials of new medications and other research projects, including
	the Foundation's Brain Bank; and a professional staff of laboratory technicians,
	genetics counselors and administrative personnel. The Center also has formal
	and informal links to surgical and epidemiological research in other parts
	of the university system, including the Department of Neurosurgery and
	the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, which sponsors studies of epidemiologic
	approaches to the study of neurodevelopmental disorders.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>(2) Leadership for the Future.</FONT><I><FONT SIZE=+2>
	</FONT></I></FONT>Preparing Tomorrow's Leaders through a National Program
	of Research Grants and Postdoctoral Fellowships. In addition to its direct
	support of one of the world's leading centers of Parkinson's science, the
	PDF contributes to the wider field of Parkinson's research through two
	highly competitive and scientifically-refereed awards programs. One of
	these is of research grants to institutions; the other, of fellowships
	to young scientists.

	<P>Since the Foundation's inception four decades ago, this role has been
	central to its mission. At no time was this more evident than in November
	of 1996, with the announcement, in an article appearing in the journal
	Science, of the discovery of a gene for Parkinson's disease. Thirty-five
	years earlier, Dr. Roger DuVoisin, then a promising young scientist and
	today the senior member of the team of authors for the Sciencearticle,
	assumed his position as the PDF's first postdoctoral Research Fellow. This
	year, the Foundation accepted applications for the research grants program
	from 24 institutions in 15 states and provinces throughout the United States
	and Canada. From this list, five were selected competitively by a committee
	of senior scientists from Columbia to receive research grants of up to
	$35,000 a year.

	<P>The committee's main criteria were scientific excellence and the potential
	for significantly expanding our knowledge about Parkinson's in important
	and practical ways. Each of the projects selected shows the potential not
	only for enhancing the science of Parkinson's but also for leading into
	a proposal for longer-term and larger support from the National Institutes
	of Health (NIH), the premier source of research funding in America. The
	other prong in the Foundation's program to nurture and support young scientists
	is the postdoctoral fellowship program. Last year, the Foundation supported
	eight such awards. The young doctors receive a modest stipend and some
	of the best and most comprehensive training in movement disorders available
	in the world.

	<P>One measure of the success of this program is where the fellows go afterwards.
	At this writing, almost every major movement disorders center in the New
	York metropolitan area--Mount Sinai Medical Centers, Beth Israel Medical
	Center, North Shore Hospital and others--is headed by a graduate of this
	program. A companion to the postdoctoral fellows program is the Foundation's
	nationwide program of summer fellowships. Last year, the Foundation sponsored
	12 such awards at as many institutions, including Brown University (Providence,
	RI); Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center and the University of
	Chicago (Chicago, IL); Ohio State University; Harvard University (Cambridge,
	MA); University of Miami (Miami, FL); University of California (Irvine,
	CA); University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA); Yale University (New
	Haven, CT); the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY); Vanderbilt University
	(Nashville, TN); and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI).

	<P>Many of the PDF's contributions in this area over the years have been
	in behalf of leading institutions abroad. Among the foreign institutions
	which have sent fellows to Columbia over the years have been the Tianjin
	School of Medicine (China); Hadassah Medical Center (Israel); University
	of London (U.K.); University of Warsaw (Poland); University of Ottawa (Canada);
	University of Madrid (Spain); University of Milano (Italy); Yamagata University
	(Japan); University of Beograd (Croatia); University of Brussels (Belgium);
	University of Bangalore (India)); Agios Oavlos Hospital (Greece); Haciteppe
	University (Turkey); and Hospital de Especialidades (Mexico).

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>(3) Leadership in the Community.</FONT><I><FONT SIZE=+2>
	</FONT></I></FONT>Informing People with Parkinson's and their Families;
	Educating the Public and the Professions; Advocating for the Cause The
	PDF's long-term goal may be the support of Parkinson's research but its
	day-to-day mailbag and fax and telephone traffic is filled with calls for
	help from patients and Parkinson's families around the country. More than
	25 calls on average come in every business day over our toll-free telephone
	lines from patients and their families--most typically, people who have
	been recently diagnosed with Parkinson's and who are crying out for help:
	information about the disease, referrals to physicians and assistance with
	questions such as where to find social services, where to get health, life
	and long-term-care insurance and how to combat job discrimination.

	<P>The Foundation takes this part of its mission very seriously, through
	publications, professional education, public advocacy and -- to the extent
	time and professional resources permit -- personal consultation. Our regular
	educational activities include:
	<UL>
	<LI>
	<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>A quarterly newsletter</FONT></FONT>,
	covering everything from medical news to support group successes to fundraising
	activities. The content is varied but rooted in a single theme: what do
	people with Parkinson's disease, and their families, want--and need--to
	know? We tell them of the medications just released (and those still in
	the pipeline); of the activities of the established support groups (and
	those that are just forming); of the scientific achievements of the mature
	scientists (and the younger ones coming along); of the few leadership gifts
	(and the many, equally appreciated, smaller ones). We share tips from people
	who have struggled with, and mastered, life with Parkinson's. We answer
	questions from those who feel anxious and needing information. Above all,
	we try to convey two simple messages: you, the individual or family who
	has been diagnosed with Parkinson's, are not alone ... and your condition
	is not a sentence of death, but a redefinition of life. To order the latest edition of the newsletter, <a href="./publicat.htm">click here</a>.</LI>

	<LI>
	<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Publications and audiovisual materials</FONT></FONT>,
	including descriptions of the medical aspects of the condition; tips and
	hints on how to handle it in the home and in the workplace; programs of
	exercise and nutrition; and a series of fact sheets on specific aspects
	of the disease and its management. - a physician referral service. The
	difficulty of diagnosis in Parkinson's disease makes it especially important
	for patients and their families to have access to physicians experienced
	in the diagnosis and treatment of this condition and other movement disorders.
	Few general physicians, and not all neurologists, are fully conversant
	with a condition that may constitute less than five percent of their practice.
	The role of the PDF here is to maintain files of physicians who are known
	to have a special interest and expertise in Parkinson's disease and who
	are interested in -- and available for --new patients. Not all scientists,
	including some of the most eminent, are available to the average patient.
	Our task is to identify those who are ... and to make sure that this list
	is available to those who reach out to us for help. To order some of our publications, <a href="./publicat.htm">click here</a>.</LI>

	<LI>
	<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>In-service training and education for
	the professions.</FONT></FONT> Our clinical nurse specialist is available
	to meet requests from professional and lay groups--social workers, community
	service people, nurses, even physicians--for up-to-date information on
	the science and practice of Parkinson's disease management. Last year alone,
	we provided more than 25 such sessions, at no charge.</LI>

	<LI>
	<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Support for support groups.</FONT></FONT>
	The Foundation has corresponding relationships with more than 500 Parkinson's
	support groups in more than 40 states. We circulate news and information
	and answer queries as needed. We also recognize excellence in performance
	by individual support groups through the annual Dorros awards. Named for
	Donna and the late Sidney Dorros, legendary leaders in the Parkinson's
	support group movement, the program offers two categories of award: one,
	for groups run by a health and social services professional and the other,
	for groups run entirely by volunteers.</LI>

	<LI>
	<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Raising public awareness.</FONT></FONT>
	The Foundation has an active media relations program, fielding requests
	for information from the mass media and arranging media appearances for
	scientists and other experts in Parkinson's disease. Most recently, we
	have inaugurated a Parkinson's Science News Bureau, designed to provide
	serious medical and science journalists with information and analysis on
	such topics as current research, emerging therapies, developments in care-giving
	and the demographics, economics and culture of Parkinson's disease and
	its management.</LI>

	<LI>
	<FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+1>Public funding.</FONT></FONT> The role
	of the private sector is certainly crucial in raising private monies and
	building a national constituency for support of Parkinson's disease research.
	In the long term, however, the success of that research will depend upon
	sufficient support from public sources, mostly through the National Institutes
	of Health. In this connection, the Foundation is an active collaborator
	with other organizations in building and sharing the case for increased
	federal support. Our main vehicle for this is the Washington (and California)-based
	Parkinson's Action Network, which we support financially and in other ways.</LI>
	</UL>
	<I><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>The PDF: A Chronology...</FONT></FONT></I>

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1957</FONT></FONT> Parkinson's Disease
	Foundation, the oldest charitable group in the nation that is dedicated
	exclusively to finding the cure and providing the care for Parkinson's
	disease, was founded by William Black, a New York City businessman and
	philanthropist. Dr. Melvin Yahr named as executive director and scientific
	director.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1962</FONT></FONT> Dr. Roger Duvoisin
	appointed ats PDF's first postdoctoral fellow. (Thirty-five years later,
	Dr. Duvoisin was senior member of the team that discovered the first gene
	accounting for some cases of PD). Dr. Duvoisin develops the Columbia Rating
	Scale (the forerunner of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS),
	developed by Dr. Stanley Fahn and colleagues in 1987), for calibrating
	the severity of Parkinson's disease.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1965</FONT></FONT> Columbia University
	opens the PDF laboratories on the third floor of the William Black Building
	at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC). PDF sponsors its first
	two scientific conferences: one on the science of the thalamus and the
	other on the biochemistry and pharmacology of the basal ganglia.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1967</FONT></FONT> Dr. Margaret
	Hoehn, PDF postdoctoral fellow, and Dr. Yahr publish seminal paper on the
	natural history of Parkinson's disease. This included the benchmark "Hoehn
	and Yahr staging system" for identifying the severity of PD.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1969</FONT></FONT> Dr.Yahr and PDF
	colleagues publish the results of the first double-blind trial of levodopa,
	the first medication to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1970</FONT></FONT> PDF initiates
	the James Parkinson award, named for the English physician who first described
	the disease that now carries his name. The honoree is Dr. Arvid Carlsson,
	an pioneer in the science of dopamine.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1971</FONT></FONT> PDF initiates
	program of summer fellowships for medical students, to encourage talented
	your scientists to enter the field of Parkinson's disease research.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1973</FONT></FONT> Second James
	Parkinson awards made to Dr. Oleh Hornykiewicz, the research scientists
	who discovered the link between striatal dopamine deficiency and PD. Dr.
	Stanley Fahn named as scientific director of the PDF.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1978</FONT></FONT> Dinah Tottenham
	Orr named as executive director of the PDF.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1981</FONT></FONT> PDF and Columbia
	University sponsor scientific symposium on experimental therapeutics for
	Parkinson's disease.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1982</FONT></FONT> PDF establishes
	the H. Houston Merritt Sabbatical Fellowships for visiting scientists,
	named for the renowned neurologist and first president of the Foundation.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1983</FONT></FONT> PDF stages first
	"open house" for people with Parkinson's and their families.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1984</FONT></FONT> Dr. Fahn, in
	association with Dr. Ira Shoulson of the University of Rochester, found
	the Parkinson Study Group, a consortium of leading research centers assembled
	to conduct multi- center clinical trials of new drugs.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1987</FONT></FONT> On the occasion
	of nits 30th anniversary, the PDF sponsors a symposium immediately before
	the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Melvin Yahr
	and J.William Langston, a discoverer of the neurotoxicity of MPTP, receive
	the third and fourth James Parkinson awards. At the same time, the Foundation
	initiates the Donna and Sidney Dorros awards, recognizing excellence in
	Parkinson's support groups.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1988</FONT></FONT> PDF, along with
	the United Parkinson Foundation in Chicago, create a Junior Faculty Award.
	Purpose is to provide support to young scientists for Parkinson's research.
	1989 Foundation creates position of nurse-specialist to help patients with
	their question and provide professional leadership to support groups and
	patient and family education.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1994</FONT></FONT> Several Parkinson's
	organizations team up to create the Parkinson's Unity Walk, a collaborative
	fundraising effort based in New York City. The proceeds go to each of the
	participating organizations. The Foundation sponsors the first symposium
	on the "quality of life" in Parkinson's disease.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1995</FONT></FONT> Foundation's
	annual benefit dinner-dance features Muhammad Ali and Madonna.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1996</FONT></FONT> Ms. Orr retires
	as executive director; Mr. Robin Elliott appointed to replace her.

	<P><FONT COLOR="#000099"><FONT SIZE=+2>1997</FONT></FONT> PDF sponsors
	"Frontiers in Parkinson's Disease," a symposium celebrating its 40th anniversary.
	Fifth James Parkinson award given to C. David Marsden, explorer of the
	etiology, biochemistry, physiology, imaging, genetics, animal models and
	therapeutics of PD. In this year also, PDF inaugurates the Parkinson's
	Disease Foundation lectureship at the annual meeting of the American Academy
	of Neurology. First honoree turns out to be Dr. Fahn. The Foundation participates
	with other Parkinson's advocacy groups in achieving Congressional passage
	and Presidential approval of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Education
	and Research Act, which authorizes up to $100 million in expenditures through
	the National Institutes of Health for research on Parkinson's disease. </TD>
	</TR>
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