Michael J. Fox and The Michael J. Foundation Co-Founder Debi Brooks sat down with Fortune Editor-in-Chief Clifton Leaf to talk about how patients are driving both the urgency and the science behind finding a cure for Parkinson's disease.

Timed to the annual Fortune Brainstorm Health conference, Michael and Debi spoke candidly about the challenges we face in Parkinson's disease and how the Foundation -- through the critical participation of patients and families -- is paving the way forward. Watch the entire video below or click here.

"We're the experts on what we have. You can meet 10,000 scientists and researchers, but unless they have Parkinson's...they won't know what it's like to have Parkinson's," said Michael as he talked about the integral role patients play in setting the research agenda. "We have a responsibility as patients. They [researchers] need to be fully informed of our experience."

Debi added, "When you think about being able to put a wristwatch on a Parkinson's patient and a cellphone in their pocket and then collect terabytes worth of data every day about their movements and then add all that to the patient-reported experience...these are the kinds of things that can chip away at this lack of disease understanding."

Watch the entire video interview on Fortune.com. Then, sign up to join our community and follow the latest progress in Parkinson's research.