Calling all readers, researchers, advocates, and people impacted by Parkinson’s disease! You’re invited to a book club featuring Ending Parkinson’s Disease: A Prescription for Action. Join us for a four part mini-series with the authors Ray Dorsey, MD, Bastiaan Bloem, MD, PhD and Michael Okun, MD, along with Ted Thompson, JD of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. This interactive series will feature a different author each program discussing specific chapters and will give the audience the opportunity to directly ask questions, discuss the content, and brainstorm what we can do today to work towards ending PD!
The book is available on Amazon (paperback, hardback, audio, Kindle!). If you would like to purchase the book but need financial assistance, please fill out this form. Plus, we will be raffling off two signed copies of the book. Register today for one or all 4 parts of this special event series; join us and people like you across the world to learn together, discuss together, and take action together!
Ted Thompson, JD, is the senior vice president of public policy for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Ted has more than 25 years of experience in public policy and government affairs, serving in several nonprofit leadership positions and as staff to two members of Congress. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ted served as president and CEO of the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on federal policy issues affecting people with Parkinson’s disease. Prior to PAN, Ted was the vice president of federal government relations at the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. At the MS Society, Ted directed overall federal strategy for the national organization, as well as coordinated strategic lobbying efforts. He was also the senior vice president of public policy and mission advancement for the National MS Society, Minnesota Chapter; the president of the National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children; and the legislative counsel/director of federal
Michael S. Okun received his M.D. with honors from the University of Florida. He was fellowship trained by Mahlon DeLong, Jerrold Vitek and Ray Watts at Emory University in Atlanta GA before moving to found the movement disorders program at the University of Florida. He is currently Chair of Neurology, Professor and Executive Director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at the University of Florida Health College of Medicine. Dr. Okun has served as the National Medical Director for the Parkinson’s Foundation since 2006 and as the Medical Advisor for Tyler’s Hope for a Dystonia Cure. He has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Smallwood Foundation, the Tourette Association of America, the Parkinson Alliance, the Bachmann-Strauss Foundation, the Parkinson’s Foundation, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Dr. Okun has an active research career exploring non-motor basal ganglia brain features and currently holds two NIH R01 grants and several foundation grants exploring various aspects of deep brain stimulation and neuromodulation. Dr. Okun has been an integral part of some of the pioneering studies exploring the cognitive, behavioral, and mood effects of brain stimulation and since 2005 his laboratory has been working to uncover the electrical brain signals associated with human tic.
Professor Bas Bloem is a consultant neurologist in the Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands. He received his MD degree (with honor) at Leiden University Medical Centre in 1993. In 1994, he obtained his PhD degree in Leiden, based on a thesis entitled “Postural reflexes in Parkinson’s disease.” He was trained as a neurologist between 1994-2000. He received additional training as movement disorders specialist during fellowships at The Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale, California (with Dr. J.W. Langston) and at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London (with Prof. N.P. Quinn and Prof. J.C. Rothwell). In 2002, he founded and became medical director of the Parkinson Centre Nijmegen (ParC), which was recognized from 2005 onwards as a center of excellence for Parkinson’s disease. Together with Dr. Marten Munneke, he also developed ParkinsonNet, an innovative health care concept of professional networks for Parkinson’s patients covering all of the Netherlands (
Ray Dorsey, MD is the David M. Levy Professor of Neurology and Director of the Center for Health + Technology at the University of Rochester. The Center seeks to provide care and research opportunities to anyone anywhere. Ray and his colleagues have written Ending Parkinson’s Disease, a book that provides a prescription for ending this debilitating condition. Ray previously directed the movement disorders division and neurology telemedicine at Johns Hopkins and worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company. His research has been published in leading medical, neurology, and economic journals and has been featured on National Public Radio, in The New York Times, and in The Wall Street Journal. In 2015, the White House recognized him as a “Champion for Change” for Parkinson’s disease.
