Back to What Researchers Say About MJFF

Gene Johnson, PhD - Bio

I first became involved with The Michael J. Fox Foundation when I was approached to speak at a workshop on neuronal cell death. It was an exciting and unusual opportunity to join my peers for a day to discuss a problem and determine logical next steps toward solving it. Some time after that the Foundation invited me to sit on a review panel, then later to join the Scientific Advisory Board, the Executive Scientific Advisory Board and finally to serve as chief scientific advisor.

The Foundation is well-respected in the field, and one reason is that we are not passive; we don’t just hand out money and then disappear until we ask for a progress report two years later. We expect real accountability and, though I’ve been in science long enough to know that things sometimes just don’t work out as hoped, we expect our awardees to try very hard to do what they said they would do with our funding.

What’s just as important is that our portfolio of investments is managed. There is no project we would invest in if we weren’t really excited about it. We don’t stand idly by and watch as awardees conduct their work. The Foundation staff is always asking the next logical question, trying to figure out: What can we do to take this project to the next level — or, when needed, to get things back on track?

Throughout all my experiences with MJFF I’ve been impressed with the rigor and accountability of the Foundation’s process, and with the creative and competent way that the staff goes about its mission of finding better treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s disease. I’m willing to dedicate as much time and effort to the Foundation as I do because I truly believe this organization is going to make a difference.