Why support early career researchers with our Fueling the Future of Science Campaign
In 2004, when I was hired to help launch the 1st World Parkinson Congress in Washington, DC, I was part of many conversations about WHY we needed a meeting that was inclusive of the whole community.
Not everyone agreed with this idea. Fortunately, we have changed people’s minds.
Not only did that first gathering bring people with Parkinson’s to the table, a voice that had been sorely missing up until that point, we also opened the doors for all the clinicians that were not doctors – the nurses, physical and occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, social workers and others who had until that point, also been excluded from the international discussions about Parkinson’s.
The WPC 2006 was groundbreaking in many ways and shook the established foundation of what Parkinson’s meetings were supposed to look like, and we have never turned back.
One of the most impactful cross pollinations from day one was between the basic researchers and the people with Parkinson’s. I had heard from our leaders that this would be where the magic happened, because basic researchers don’t see people with Parkinson’s and this experience could really impact them. Boy did it ever.
I distinctly remember standing in the hallway of the convention center where I ran into a very respected senior researcher. I asked him how he was finding the Congress, and he replied, “It’s been incredible for me, I have learned so much, including that my entire team of junior researchers, whom I brought with me, have never met a person with Parkinson’s.” I was stunned. I asked him how he was learning this for the first time, and he said that he just assumed that those in his lab who had an interest in Parkinson’s had the interest because they knew someone with PD or had seen it somewhere outside the lab. He was floored that his ENTIRE team that was dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s had never even met a person with PD, and he was somewhat embarrassed that he didn’t even know this. I asked him what he was going to do moving forward, and he replied that he would start bringing people with PD into his lab, so his team could meet them, ask them questions, and see what Parkinson’s was like for them on a day-to-day basis. I left that conversation feeling quite positive – it was clear that we had a massive gap between those living with PD and those trying to cure it – but the WPC now had a real purpose and focus.
That same day I ran into a man with Parkinson’s and asked him how he was finding the Congress. He shared that before arriving, he was feeling a bit depressed, and lonely, but then he arrived and met so many junior researchers that he never even knew existed. He said, “I didn’t realize my PD team was so big. All those researchers who I don’t know are part of my team, and I didn’t even know it. I have more hope now, seeing those young researchers knowing they are working for me, even if they don’t know me, to find new treatments and a cure one day. My team just got much bigger, and it gives me hope.”
Amazing what the WPC was able to do by creating an interdigitated space, give people with Parkinson’s hope and inspire researchers to go beyond their labs to better understand Parkinson’s and its impact on those living with it.
This is why we launched the Fueling the Future of Parkinson’s Science campaign. We know that scientists, particularly early career researchers, are struggling to get funding for their research and struggling to get funding to attend conferences like the World Parkinson Congress, yet attending the WPC is crucial to inspiring them and connecting them with other PD community members so they STAY in the Parkinson’s space.
We NEED these junior researchers to stay focused on Parkinson’s and to attend the 7th World Parkinson Congress to help us get closer to the cure everyone is so eager to see happen. We need these junior researchers to meet people with Parkinson’s and to be inspired by the WPC experience and to ask questions that they would not be able to ask elsewhere. We need them to present their work and learn how to explain it to non-researchers in simple and clear details. The WPC is a training ground, help us get the trainees to the Congress.
We have launched this campaign thanks to WPC board member, Dr. Jeffrey Kordower,
and his ASU Neurodegenerative Center for Research (NDRC). His commitment, and the commitment of the NDRC, is to match up to $15,000 of donations to this campaign specifically to support junior researchers to attend the World Parkinson Congress. If we raise $15,000, we will secure a full match, which means we’ll have $30,000 to help junior researchers attend the WPC 2026 in May to share their research, meet with PwPs, and stay inspired to keep researching Parkinson’s.
We need this next generation of researchers. Please consider supporting this campaign. Your support may help the next group of researchers to deliver a new treatment or cure for this disease we all want so badly to close the door on.
DONATE to Fueling the Future of Science Campaign
Watch other videos from researchers around the world who are supporting this campaign.
Watch video from Roger Barker (UK)
Watch video from Leonidas Stefanis (Greece)
Watch video from Caroline Williams-Gray (UK)
Watch Ignacio Mata (USA)
Eli Pollard is the Executive Director at the World Parkinson Coalition. She helped launch the triennial Congresses and has seen them evolve and grow over the years. She has watched the community become more inclusive and looks forward to closing the door on Parkinson’s and putting herself out of a job.
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Ideas and opinions expressed in this post reflect that of the author(s) solely. They do not reflect the opinions or positions of the World Parkinson Coalition®