{"id":342794,"date":"2026-06-02T10:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/342794\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T10:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T10:55:13","slug":"contributor-california-is-at-the-center-of-the-fight-against-parkinsons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/342794\/","title":{"rendered":"Contributor: California is at the center of the fight against Parkinson’s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What will it take to cure Parkinson\u2019s disease? It\u2019s one of the first questions I asked when I was diagnosed in 1991, and one that patients and families still ask today. A lot has changed in those three decades, and thanks to the tireless efforts of a global community of scientists, patients and advocates, we\u2019re closer to a cure than we\u2019ve ever been. But it\u2019s no secret that finishing the job will take everything we\u2019ve got \u2014 and the science continues to outpace the money.<\/p>\n

Right now, Californians have a massive opportunity to change things for the better. Senate Bill 895, introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener, would create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research, funded through a voter-approved multibillion-dollar bond. The proposed foundation would aim to take on some of our most pressing challenges, from diseases like Parkinson\u2019s and cancer to climate change and wildfires.<\/p>\n

In Parkinson\u2019s, cells that produce dopamine gradually stop doing their job. The functions our bodies rely on \u2014 including movement, mood and cognition \u2014 break down, worsening over time. But biology doesn\u2019t have to be destiny. Research is already changing what\u2019s possible for people with Parkinson\u2019s, and California is proving it.<\/p>\n

At UC San Francisco, researchers have developed a new generation of adaptive deep brain stimulation \u2014 technology that reads brain signals in real time and adjusts treatment automatically. At UC San Diego, scientists have reprogrammed brain cells to replace the dopamine-producing neurons Parkinson\u2019s destroys, reversing symptoms in early pre-clinical models.<\/p>\n

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is proud to have helped fund both efforts, but this is just a fraction of what\u2019s within reach \u2014 and we can\u2019t get there on our own. No single organization can. What we need is public investment to match the scale of the enormous opportunity before us. That\u2019s what will take us further and faster than ever.<\/p>\n

More than 1.2 million people in the U.S. \u2014 including nearly 135,000 Californians \u2014 live with Parkinson\u2019s and related conditions today. Parkinson\u2019s is the world\u2019s fastest growing neurological disease, and in 2024 alone, the disease cost patients, families and taxpayers across the country a stunning $82 billion<\/a>. That includes things you\u2019d expect, like doctor\u2019s visits and medications. It also includes the quieter, more insidious costs: premature retirements, college funds siphoned away, spouses enlisted as full-time unpaid caregivers.<\/p>\n

Whether you live with Parkinson\u2019s or not, you\u2019re paying for it. For some of us, there\u2019s no opting out. But for California taxpayers, SB 895 gives you a chance to put your money to better use \u2014 directing it toward cures instead of costs to ease the burden on all of us.<\/p>\n

There has never been a better moment to go all in on Parkinson\u2019s research. Nearly two dozen new treatments have been approved in the last decade. More than 175 are currently in clinical development, half of which aim to slow or entirely stop the disease \u2014 not just treat its symptoms \u2014 something we\u2019ve never been able to do before. In 2023, scientists validated the first test that can detect Parkinson\u2019s biology in living humans, even years before outward symptoms emerge. That breakthrough is already changing how we diagnose and treat the disease \u2014 and how we might soon prevent it altogether.<\/p>\n

Behind this momentum are tens of thousands of people \u2014 patients who roll up their sleeves and join clinical trials, scientists who turn dead-ends into detours, fundraisers who power research and advocates who help policymakers understand what\u2019s at stake. I\u2019m endlessly grateful for this community \u2014 one that chooses, every day, to push against the limits of what we know. I\u2019ve seen them chip away at some of the most complex questions in brain science and say, \u201cWe can do more.\u201d Again and again, they do.<\/p>\n

Our biggest roadblock isn\u2019t a lack of talent or promising ideas. We\u2019re not short on ingenuity or determination. What we need is increased public investment to scale those ideas, getting research dollars into the hands of brilliant people who can kick down every door until we find the breakthroughs we\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve realized for a long time that cures won\u2019t fall from the sky. We have to climb up and get them. California\u2019s world-class universities, research hospitals and biotech industry have created an ecosystem where discovery accelerates and compounds. It\u2019s a place where entrepreneurial thinking meets scientific rigor \u2014 where smart, ambitious people come together to solve our toughest problems.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 895 is a bet on California\u2019s ability to do what it does best, at exactly the moment when science is set to sprint.<\/p>\n

To the California Senate: Thank you for passing this bill. Your leadership and commitment to science are moving us closer to cures. To the California Assembly: I urge you to do the same. And to Californians: Call your Assemblymembers and Gov. Gavin Newsom \u2014 let them know why this bill matters to you. If it reaches the ballot in November, vote for it.<\/p>\n

Millions of people and families affected by disease in California and across the country are counting on us to get this right. The science is ready. How fast it can go is up to us.<\/p>\n

Michael J. Fox is an actor, an author and the founder of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson\u2019s Research. He was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease at age 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What will it take to cure Parkinson\u2019s disease? It\u2019s one of the first questions I asked when I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,4488,37118,59026,4719,1431,14132,141089,56823,1584,592,645,6230,3287,37965],"class_list":["post-342794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-californians","tag-cell","tag-cure","tag-disease","tag-family","tag-health-research","tag-michael-j-fox-foundation","tag-parkinson","tag-patient","tag-people","tag-science","tag-scientist","tag-senate-bill","tag-symptom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}