Movement Disorder Program receives $650,000 from Parkinson Support Center
UofL's Larry Cook, M.D., and Irene Litvan, M.D., join John Swarts, president of the Parkinson Support Center of Kentuckiana, and UofL President James Ramsey, Ph.D., for the announcement.
Research on Parkinson's disease has received a major boost with a $650,000 gift from the Parkinson Support Center of Kentuckiana, officials announced April 26.
The gift will benefit UofL's Movement Disorder Program, which is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art care for patients with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and movement disorders such as Huntington's disease.
The Kentucky Research Challenge Trust Fund will match $500,000 of the gift, creating a $1 million endowment to fund scientific research into the causes and treatment of Parkinson's.
The gift's remaining $150,000 will be used to hire a specialized nurse practitioner and create fellowships for physicians seeking advanced training in the treatment of movement disorders.
"We are pleased to publicly thank the Parkinson Support Center of Kentuckiana for their major gift," UofL President James Ramsey, Ph.D., said during a news conference held to announce the gift.
"There's no question that the last couple of years have been challenging because federal funding for research is leveling off. One of our strategies for moving forward in tough fiscal times is the development of partnerships, and today, we're here to celebrate our partnership with the Parkinson Support Center of Kentuckiana."
Larry Cook, M.D., UofL's vice president for health affairs, also expressed his appreciation for the center, an organization formed in 2002 to fund clinical research, assist support groups, conduct patient seminars, produce educational materials and increase public awareness of a disease that affects 1.5 million Americans.
There is no known cure for Parkinson's, a progressive condition that disrupts motor control and eventually robs victims of the ability to speak or breathe.
"It's been my pleasure over the past few months to get to know better the wonderful leadership of the Parkinson Support Center of Kentuckiana," Cook said. "These are among the most committed individuals I've had the opportunity to interact with."
John Swarts, a General Electric executive and president of the Parkinson Support Center, said the gift was made possible through the generosity of more than 100 donors who made contributions during the center's first-ever fund-raising drive.
That campaign reached its initial goal -- $1.25 million -- in just six months, prompting officials to raise their target to $1.75 million.
The director of UofL's Movement Disorder Program, Irene Litvan, M.D., praised the support center for what she termed a "Herculean" fund-raising task.
A practicing physician with more than 700 patients, Litvan said the gift is welcome news for the 4,000 people who suffer from Parkinson's Disease in the Louisville area and nearly 12,000 statewide.
"Today's announcement is all about those people who are struggling with this terrible disease," she said. "We are committed to finding new ways to treat Parkinson's, and this gift will help us get new research to patients more quickly. The fellowship funds are extremely important, as there is a severe shortage of movement-disorders specialists here in Kentuckiana and across the nation. Our ability to hire and train more fellows will help address this shortage."
Litvan, UofL's Raymond Lee Lebby Professor of Parkinson's Disease Research, came to the university in 2002 after working at the National Institutes of Health and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation.
Last year, she was awarded a $3.6 million NIH grant to fund a multi-center study on the genetic and environmental risk factors for a Parkinson's-related disorder.
