May 2026

From the Board

Parkinson’s Advocacy Day Report

On Monday, April 13, PD Active members went to Sacramento for Parkinson’s Advocacy Day, sponsored by the Parkinson's Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Parkinson’s Association of Northern California, and the American Parkinson Disease Association.

It was an inspiring day, an opportunity to meet the broader PD community and to advocate for state policies and funding that can improve treatment and address the underlying causes of Parkinson’s disease. We met with members of the State Senate and Assembly and staff, told our stories, and lobbied for action.

A key focus of our efforts was California Senate Bill 895 (SB 895), which would put a measure on the state ballot that would establish long-term funding for medical research, including brain research relating to Parkinson’s. We also urged the state to take action to ban paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide that has been linked to Parkinson’s disease.  

If you are interested in future advocacy efforts, email or call 510-479-6119.

PD Active members Jane King, Karen Garrison and David Edelson met with Heather Caden, the Legislative Director for Senator McNerney who is a co-author of the bill SB 895. 

PD Active President Todd Morrish and Tim Kleffman met with Ricardo Gonzalez, Legislative Aid to Senator Aisha Wahab who supports SB 895 and understands the dangers of the herbicide paraquat.

In Case You Missed It

PPMI, PD Progression Markers, Precision Medicine, and Prevention

with Dr. Carlie Tanner

In this forum Dr. Tanner, co-principal investigator in the The Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative (or PPMI), gave an update on the PPMI study, along with related topics she is studying including Preventing PD, the Cost of PD, currently active clinical trials she is involved in, and more.

More info on Dr. Tanner's work here.

Watch the presentation here. View the slides here.

PD Active depends on donations to bring programs like these to our members. We remain grateful for your contributions.

Community

World Parkinson’s Congress

The World Parkinson’s Congress is taking place in Phoenix, May 24-27.

The WPC brings together neuroscientists, clinical researchers, clinicians, rehabilitation specialists, nutritionists, people with Parkinson’s, care partners and others.

More information about the WPC here.

Let us know if you are going and if you would like to connect with others from PD Active while you are there. Email operations@pdactive.org.

Stay tuned for a report back in June from PD Active members who attend the conference.

Thank You to our Recent Donors

New Recurring Donors

Alicia Rusoja

Donors

Janis Bankoff

Deborah Barack

Marilyn Becker

Lee Bevis

Amy Coty

Lynne Henderson

Claudia Kawczynska

Alicia Rusoja

Tyler Wenck

Thomas Yu

Anonymous

Donations in Honor Of

Kelsi Perttula – in honor of Drew Perttula

Donations in Memory Of

Daniel Jarmel – in memory of Lee Shapiro