Media Advisory
Friday, January 17, 2025
Open call for participants to serve on the Parkinson's Disease Advisory Board.
What
With support from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is leading the implementation of the Dr. Emmanuel Bilirakis and the Honorable Jennifer Wexton National Plan to End Parkinson's Act (PL 118-66), which was enacted on July 2, 2024. This follows a delegation of authority from the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to the Director of the NIH.
The law establishes a Federal Advisory Council on Parkinson's Research, Care, and Services and calls for the creation and regular updating of a national plan to prevent, diagnose, treat, and cure Parkinson's disease, improve symptoms, and slow or halt progression. In addition to Parkinson's disease, the national plan will also target other neurodegenerative parkinsonisms, including multiple system atrophy, corticobasal degeneration, progressive supranuclear palsy, and Parkinson's dementia.
The goals of the Act are to coordinate Parkinson's disease research and services among federal agencies; accelerate the development of safe and effective treatments; improve early diagnosis; facilitate coordination of care and treatment; reduce the impact of Parkinson's disease on the physical, mental, and social health of people living with Parkinson's disease and their caregivers and families; and increase international coordination.
In anticipation of the implementation of this law, the NIH is seeking applications for individuals to serve on the Federal Advisory Council on Parkinson's Research, Care, and Services, which will provide advice on Parkinson's issues, including recommendations for priority actions to be included in the national plan. The council will include two patient advocates, including one person living with young-onset PD; one family caregiver; one health care provider; two biomedical researchers with expertise related to Parkinson's disease; one movement disorders specialist who treats people with Parkinson's disease; one dementia specialist who treats people with Parkinson's disease; and two representatives from Parkinson's disease-related nonprofit organizations. In addition, the council will be composed of representatives from 13 federal agencies involved in Parkinson's disease research, clinical care, or care services. The council will be co-chaired by the director of the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the associate deputy director of the HHS Office of Science and Medicine for OASH.
Further information on the law and the nomination process is available here.
Who
Walter Koroshetz, MD, Director of NINDS, is available for comment. To arrange an interview, please contact NINDSPressTeam@ninds.nih.gov
About the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): The NINDS is the nation's leading funder of brain and nervous system research. The mission of the NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use this knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological diseases.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, comprises 27 institutes and centers and is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency that conducts and supports basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and studies the causes, treatments, and cures for common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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