Michael J. Fox
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
For empowering patients’ voices and accelerating research to find improved therapies and a cure for Parkinson’s disease
The 2026 Lasker~Bloomberg Public Service Award honors Michael J. Fox (Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research) for empowering patients’ voices and accelerating research to find improved therapies and a cure for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Fox has harnessed his celebrity to raise the profile of this devastating illness, dispel stigma for those who have it, and spearhead a revolution in the world of PD research. The trailblazing foundation that he conceived and launched has spurred scientists, clinicians, industry leaders, non-profits, and donors to join patients, who are actively engaged in the enterprise of finding therapies that would most improve their well-being.
In 1990, at age 29, fabulously successful and popular actor Michael J. Fox woke up to a twitching pinky. A diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s disease soon followed. For years, he resisted publicly sharing the news. This was a personal matter, he reasoned, and he dreaded tabloid news frenzies, which had already invaded private moments such as his wedding and father’s funeral. He also worried that audiences wouldn’t laugh if they were watching for symptoms. Moreover, denial percolated: Maybe the diagnosis was a mistake; maybe he would magically recover. As his career flourished, he concocted tricks to hide the tremors, but the weight of his secret grew. In 1998, he decided to stop pretending and to integrate his health status into all areas of his life. He made an announcement to his fans and the world.
The race is on
Michael J. Fox helps cheer on Team Fox runners at the 2011 New York City Marathon.
Considered a movement disorder due to its hallmark slowness, stiffness, and tremors, PD spawns other symptoms as well, including mood and thinking difficulties, insomnia, and loss of smell. These afflictions, underappreciated even by many physicians, reflected unmet medical needs and research opportunities. The lynchpin treatment, levodopa, resupplies the neurotransmitter dopamine that’s missing in PD-affected brains but it alleviates only the motor disturbances. Furthermore, it does not combat the underlying cause—loss of brain cells that make dopamine—and thus fails to stop progression. As the disease worsens, people need more and more medication, which brings debilitating side effects.
After Fox’s revelation, a multitude of PD organizations appealed to him for support. As the entreaties amassed, he catalogued their worthwhile activities and realized that a gaping hole existed: No one was applying significant philanthropic resources toward finding an effective remedy for the disease. Scientists told him that auspicious ideas abounded, but federal funding to explore them fell short. Furthermore, PD research lacked global oversight and vision. The field desperately needed a department of cures.
A business that aims to put itself out of business
Fox decided to create a foundation that would strategize how to get from basic science to the pharmacy shelf, guided by input from patients about what would most benefit them. Then it would do everything necessary to make that happen as quickly as possible. He decided to run the organization like an entrepreneurial venture that aimed to cure PD. Unlike a normal company, though, victory would mean making itself obsolete.
He hired business maven Deborah Brooks to run the operation, and they established the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) in 2000. Bound only by a clearcut mission to deliver better treatments, they surveyed the PD-research scene, imagining how they could exploit tantalizing findings and accelerate progress in areas that patients deemed most vital. The MJFF could take risks that traditional funders such as the NIH tended to shy away from. It could fund scientists in any sector from anywhere in the world. Crucially, it could adopt a broad test-tube-to-medicine view, incorporating a pharmaceutical-company perspective that would help propel findings in academic labs toward clinical utility.
As Fox, Brooks, and their MJFF colleagues strategized about how to rapidly get money into the hands of researchers who were doing the most promising work, they scanned for obstacles and devised ways to remove them. The foundation slashed the amount of time and effort required to apply for and obtain grants. It simplified forms and hired Ph.D.-trained neuroscientists, which afforded in-house savvy that enabled speedy decisions.
From the start, MJFF manifested Fox’s expectation of finding the most efficient way forward. It wields intellectual as well as financial resources to shape research. Proposal reviewers don’t just approve or reject a plan; they brainstorm possible improvements, offering or sometimes requiring investigators to incorporate adjustments. The foundation tracks progress and troubleshoots stalls. It cultivates an atmosphere of collaborative problem solving and ensures that its grantees release results promptly so that others have access to the latest discoveries. Furthermore, MJFF identifies and recruits scientists into the field who don’t think of themselves as studying PD, but who possess relevant expertise. As a neutral party with tremendous credibility, MJFF serves as a diplomatic as well as a funding hub. It forges new research teams—and it has even brokered conversations and data sharing among competing companies.
Since its inception, the foundation has funded more than $3 billion in Parkinson’s research, and its annual investment exceeds that of the United States government. In the past 25 years, insight into the illness’s genetic and cellular underpinnings has exploded. Scientists have uncovered multiple and diverse targets, including some that might lie at the root of disease. Several dozen MJFF-supported therapies are under investigation, some of which are in clinical trials. Many symptomatic treatments have achieved FDA approval or are close.
Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali testify before Congress on behalf of the Parkinson’s community in May 2002 (left); Fox meets with bipartisan members of the House of Representatives in February 2017 (right).
A marker of success
From the moment he announced his diagnosis, Fox has energized patients and involved them in the scientific enterprise. Since then, MJFF has established itself not just the largest funder of PD research in the world, but also as a core coordinator that helps connect volunteers with appropriate clinical trials. The foundation has also channeled patients’ desire to become active partners in research. Historically, the field has lacked a measurable physiological substance that could predict PD, diagnose it, or track its progression. The absence of such a biomarker creates numerous bottlenecks; among them, companies have no way to assess whether a potential drug is working. Given the monumental cost of bringing a single agent to market, this situation soured the allure of PD programs and stymied the undertaking from a practical standpoint. A biomarker could change pharma’s risk calculus.
Toward that end, MJFF launched the Parkinson’s Precision Medicine Initiative Study (PPMI). The goal: Track people as soon as possible after diagnosis, collecting samples and measuring any entity that might plausibly prove informative.
PPMI presented a huge financial and operational gamble for MJFF. Even with robust participation and astute data analysis, there was no guarantee that biology would produce a useful tool. But Fox grasped that the project was essential to advance the field. When the MJFF board was debating the controversial proposal, he leaned over the table and declared, “It sounds as if someone has to do this; if not us, who?” His boldness and persuasiveness secured PPMI’s initial funding. Researchers across the globe have used its rich cache of data and biological materials to probe crucial questions about PD.
In 2023, a PPMI study reported a breakthrough—a technique that detects abnormal clumps of a protein called alpha-synuclein in spinal fluid. The test identifies people with PD and even asymptomatic people who are at high risk of disease. Scientists are hard at work trying to translate the findings into a quantifiable skin or blood test.
Effective activism
Outside of his contributions to the foundation, Fox has leveraged his fame to sway lawmakers. Through formal testimony and lobbying, he has pushed congress to increase funding for Parkinson’s research and keep open all avenues. In that vein, he fueled widespread discussion of stem-cell experimentation, and he stumped for candidates who supported this endeavor. His appearance in a particularly compelling 2006 campaign ad prompted conservative radio-program host Rush Limbaugh to accuse him of faking his jerky movements. This attempt to assail Fox’s integrity thrust the clip into the spotlight, inciting more than two million views.
Fox also influences PD policy through informal phone calls to key legislators. His advocacy played a crucial role in securing the passage of the National Plan to End Parkinson’s in 2024, a law that unites and coordinates federal activities that target the disease.
Fox has deployed his eloquence, vulnerability, and sincerity in five memoirs. These books have heartened people with Parkinson’s disease, and they have educated and touched the wider public. He evocatively describes, for instance, the ways in which PD “rendered me a prisoner in my own body.” He demonstrated similar candidness in the award-winning documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. His willingness to grapple honestly and openly with his predicament has bestowed a great gift upon us all.
Fox’s courage and leadership has galvanized all elements of the Parkinson’s community. Instead of shrinking into his health challenges upon being struck with the brutal ailment, Fox stepped onto the world stage. His enthusiasm, buoyancy, and single-minded focus has transformed the experience and outlook for everyone with this degenerative neurological disorder.
by Evelyn Strauss
Award presentation: Margaret Hamburg
It’s such a privilege to chair the jury for the Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service award. The award recognizes people or organizations whose public service has advanced medical research and public health. We honor them to show our appreciation for their work and to draw inspiration from their achievements.
This year’s recipient is especially worthy of this award.
Michael J. Fox was not even 30 years old when he experienced the first symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. A difficult condition for anyone to manage—it is all the more so when you are a popular film and television star, and your body is on regular display to millions of people.
Michael said that when his symptoms became more noticeable, photographers started staking out his apartment asking “what’s the matter with you?” I don’t think anyone would have blamed him if he simply decided to retreat. Instead, he went public with his diagnosis…and used that press attention to help people understand what it was like to live with Parkinson’s Disease. It was a bold, brave move.
I remember being very impressed back in 1999 when Michael testified before a Senate panel that funds NIH. The place was packed. There were cameras everywhere. And Michael decided that at least on this occasion, he would go without taking medication. It was sort of like a tight rope walker performing without a net. He said he wanted Parkinson’s patients to be “seen as well as heard.” And because Michael continues to put himself out there, Parkinson’s patients do feel seen as well as heard. They credit him with removing the stigma and ignorance that once surrounded their condition.
If that was the sum total of his contribution to the fight against Parkinson’s, it would be significant. But Michael had much bigger plans and his achievements have been astonishing. Because it’s one thing to see the charming, boyish star of Back to the Future embrace his role as the public face of Parkinson’s Disease. It’s quite another to see this same person marshal experts, funders, and scientists to tackle a very challenging area of biomedical research.
Under his leadership, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, has spurred truly meaningful progress against a disease that has confounded researchers for decades.
Let’s start with the infusion of funding. The foundation has funded more than $3 billion in Parkinson’s research programs, a number that seriously rivals the National Institutes of Health.
Equally impressive is Michael’s decision to run the foundation more like a start-up than a traditional philanthropy. He asked Deborah Brooks, once with Goldman Sachs, to serve as co-founder and CEO. He wanted someone to complement his fundraising power and political influence with a strategic vision focused on both speed and accountability.
They established an in-house team of neuroscientists to review grant requests and provide project support. They set requirements for data sharing and established clear benchmarks for progress. They developed a network of industry partners to help bridge that daunting gap between scientific discovery and patient treatments.
Their results are extraordinary—and legion.
For example, the foundation was an early investor in a biotech company that developed an inhaled form of the drug levodopa, designed to help patients manage a sudden onset of symptoms.
The foundation supported work that developed a better approach to deep brain stimulation—a treatment that uses tiny electrodes to help control symptoms.
The foundation helped fund early-stage development of a Parkinson’s vaccine candidate, targeting proteins that may play a key role in disease progression. It’s now in Phase 2 trials.
Particularly noteworthy was Michael’s decision to back a major new initiative to discover biomarkers for Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s is primarily diagnosed via a patient’s symptoms. The lack of a definitive biological marker makes it much harder to detect the disease in its early stages, track progression and identify and test new treatments. The hunt for the elusive Parkinson’s biomarker has defeated some of the best minds in neuroscience, but Michael was not deterred. Despite formidable challenges, he said “if we don’t do it, who will?”
And so the Foundation launched a landmark global research effort to identify biomarkers and accelerate targeted treatments, called the Parkinson’s Precision Medicine Initiative, with notable accomplishments now in early detection, clinical trials, and the identification of a specific protein abnormality as a core biomarker unique to Parkinson’s.
These are just a few examples of the foundation’s achievements. And it all started 25 years ago with a patient trying to use his popularity to draw attention to a serious unmet need. For me, Michael ‘s work represents a sterling example of how patients and patient organizations can be so much more than just advocates.
I remember a time when the patient role was quite narrowly defined: increase public awareness, encourage research and raise some money. But we now know how much more they have to offer.
I first realized this while working on HIV/AIDS at NIH—now almost 40 years ago! I saw AIDS activists who began by leading protests to shut down the NIH campus come back to sit at the table and help us shape AIDS research and policy. Advocates in other disease domains, from breast cancer to diabetes to cystic fibrosis have similarly made huge contributions. And in my time as FDA commissioner, I saw the role of the patient advocate continue to expand, helping to shape regulatory strategies and serving on advisory committees.
But the Michael J Fox Foundation, and its fearless leader, has truly set a new benchmark. Michael has shown that the patient advocate has the power to become not just a contributing partner to the scientific enterprise but the dominant force responsible for its progress. He has done this while maintaining the foundation’s role as a major source of information for patients and himself as a major source of inspiration and courage.
And remember, he’s also navigating his own health challenges—along with the demands of being a husband, father, actor, producer and author.
Notably, prior to her role as a health activist and philanthropist, Mary Lasker was a student of the arts. So, I suspect she would take great pleasure in knowing that someone else with a background in the arts—who also went on to become a transformational force in biomedical research—is here today to receive an award that carries her name.
Michael, I know you have received five Emmys, four Golden Globes and a Grammy. But we hope you will find room on this crowded shelf for the Lasker~Bloomberg Award for Public Service. It is a recognition of your outstanding performance on behalf of Parkinson’s patients and Parkinson’s researchers around the world.
Acceptance remarks
Thank you, Peggy and Mr. Mayor.
I’m probably the first high school dropout to sit on this stage. I’m grateful to the Lasker Foundation and Jury for their recognition. I couldn’t have dreamed of an honor like this in 2000, when we were first setting out at the Fox Foundation.
That was a time of tremendous hope and future-focus in science. The Human Genome Project was under way. The biotech era was entering its fourth decade. But Parkinson’s drug development had stalled.
I was fortunate that my name opened doors to conversations with great scientists. In a nutshell, they told me: “The science is ahead of the money.” Great ideas were plentiful — but funding and coordination were not, in both the public and private sectors.
Debi and I had a hunch that enlisting the right people — giants of research, like you, but also patients, the “involuntary experts” on PD — could speed a path to curing this thing and “going out of business.”
And so it began. With support from a remarkable Board of Directors, many here today, we built a staff of PhDs and MBAs who searched out funding and expertise gaps we could fill. We raised as much money as we could, and got it into the hands of the global research community fast, with no endowment by design.
Today, we’re heartened to have helped unify the PD research field. Given patients a seat at the table. Set the conditions for over 20 drug approvals in 10 years. Discovered a biomarker that’s powering us toward the next generation of treatments. We’re grateful for our partnership with the Sergey Brin Family Foundation, who share our vision of a post-Parkinson’s world.
But even the most effective philanthropy, $3 billion worth and counting, can’t make up for a lack of funding and attention from the public and private sectors. Research dollars are drying up again, across government and pharma, as Parkinson’s cases only increase.
You can help. Urge your professional societies, research institutes, health systems and policymakers to support investment that will defeat PD and all brain disease.
I accept this award on behalf of the millions who are helping make the seemingly impossible, inevitable. Please join us. Thank you.
2026 Public Service Award video
