Today in an exciting collaborative effort, three major Parkinson’s disease (PD) advocacy organizations have joined forces to issue a public statement imploring lawmakers to robustly fund the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the upcoming federal budget in order to keep Parkinson’s disease (PD) research moving forward as quickly as possible. This important joint statement from the American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA), the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Research, and the Parkinson’s Foundation was issued to media nationwide this morning, June 25. The statement below is just the first of many steps in our collective efforts to advocate for the PD community.
Leading Parkinson’s Advocacy Groups Urge Strong Federal Investment in Biomedical Research
As Congress works to set funding levels for the National Institutes of Health, The American Parkinson Disease Association, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and The Parkinson’s Foundation call on lawmakers to ensure that a robustly funded, collaborative NIH — the essential engine of medical progress and hope for millions of Americans — is a cornerstone of the nation’s budget today and in the future.
Decades of dedicated scientific investigation and bipartisan support for NIH have advanced the search for next-generation treatments and brought us to the brink of transformative breakthroughs in Parkinson’s care.
Sustained federal investment also has contributed to recent discoveries that have unlocked brand-new understanding of shared biology across the major brain diseases, positioning the field to make even more rapid gains within the next decade. Any reorganization of NIH must be guided by these new scientific insights — with input from patients and families — to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes.
It is imperative that we preserve and build on this progress by increasing investment in our national scientific enterprise through NIH on behalf of the 1 million Americans living with Parkinson’s, their families and the millions more whose lives are touched by neurodegenerative disease, such as Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This is the future our country needs and deserves.
Our organizations have demonstrated the power of public-private partnership to drive scientific progress, delivering results for patients and families. We and our nationwide network of advocates will support every effort to keep this critical work moving forward through the appropriations process and in any consideration of a reorganization of NIH. We trust our nation’s leaders to join us in this vital mission.
There is lots more to come from APDA and our partner organizations. If you are interested in learning more about PD advocacy news and ways you can get involved, please fill out this simple form so we can keep you posted.