Michael J Fox Foundation announces 2017 highlights

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Author: Parkinson's Life editorsPublished: 4 January 2018

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The Michael J Fox Foundation has announced that it provided US$80 million in funding to over 240 investigators from academia, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and governments in 2017.

The organisation, which was founded in 2000 by the actor and person with Parkinson’s Michael J Fox, has funded a range of projects, focusing on: investigating Parkinson’s biological pathways, laboratory tools to accelerate Parkinson’s research, and growing the online Fox Insight study.

The foundation also shared the significant research progress that was made in 2017, such as the advancement of alpha-synuclien clinical trials, the release of new drugs to manage motor symptoms and the emergence of key technologies that provide insights to scientists.

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Could dance help to treat Parkinson’s disease?

Dance training with music could help slow the progression of mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease, researchers at York University in Canada have found. As part of the study, the researchers followed 16 participants with Parkinson’s disease who attended weekly dance classes between 2014 and 2017. The research team compared them to 16 people with Parkinson’s who did not take part in the classes. The research team found that the motor and non-motor symptoms of those who took part in the dance classes improved or did not progress over time – while those who did not participate showed a continual decline. “Dance is so complex,” said study author, PhD candidate Karolina Bearss. “It’s a multi-sensory type of environment. It incorporates and stimulates your auditory, tactile, visual and kinaesthetic senses and adds an interactive social aspect. Regular exercise does not offer these aspects. There’s so much more to dance.”

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Michael J Fox Foundation announces 2017 highlights

News

Author: Parkinson's Life editorsPublished: 4 January 2018

Prep: Cook: Serves:

Last Month

Next Month

Share this story

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Interviews

“Even Muhammad Ali had a learning curve”

Advances

Dance for Parkinson’s: tune in to English National Ballet live stream

Perspectives

Tonya’s trends: ‘off the shoulder’ – a low-slung look on the up

Research offers new insights on a cause of Parkinson’s disease

Could dance help to treat Parkinson’s disease?

Vineyard pesticides may be linked to Parkinson’s disease

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Michael J Fox Foundation announces 2017 highlights

News

Author: Parkinson's Life editorsPublished: 4 January 2018

Prep: Cook: Serves:

Last Month

Next Month

Share this story

Comments

Related articles

Interviews

“Even Muhammad Ali had a learning curve”

Advances

Dance for Parkinson’s: tune in to English National Ballet live stream

Perspectives

Tonya’s trends: ‘off the shoulder’ – a low-slung look on the up

Research offers new insights on a cause of Parkinson’s disease

Could dance help to treat Parkinson’s disease?

Vineyard pesticides may be linked to Parkinson’s disease

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