National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF) Complete Merger to Form the Parkinson's Foundation

NEW YORK and MIAMI, Aug. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Boards of Directors of the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF) announced today that they have finalized the merger of the two non-profit organizations.  The organization will operate as the Parkinson's Foundation with offices in New York City and Miami.

"This merger is about the future and we are thrilled to have it completed," said John Kozyak, Board Chair of the Parkinson's Foundation.  "Millions of people worldwide are living with Parkinson's.  We owe it to them to move the science and care forward and the merger allows us to do just that even better.  We are driven by the perspective, needs and priorities of people living with the disease and, together, we will be a formidable and effective force in the fight against Parkinson's."  

The Parkinson's Foundation will be governed by a Board of Directors that will include 11 members from each of the legacy organizations.  Mr. Kozyak, who was formerly Chair of NPF, will serve as Board Chair for two years, to be succeeded by Howard Morgan, formerly Chair of PDF.  Mr. Morgan will initially serve as Vice Chair of the Parkinson's Foundation.

"The Parkinson's Foundation will be greater than the sum of our individual parts.  Indeed, the coming together has redoubled our shared spirit of focus and purpose.  And that is just the beginning," said Mr. Morgan.  "The merger presents extraordinary opportunities for the future, but rest assured, we are also very focused on the present.  While we do not anticipate any changes to our exceptional programs – from our Centers of Excellence and individual and collaborative research and training programs around the world to our helpline services and education and advocacy programs in communities across the country – we embrace the opportunity of integrating the two organizations as an occasion for renewed commitment."

A Search Committee of the Board has been formed to recruit a dynamic new Chief Executive Officer for the organization.  The executive search firm of Russell Reynolds has been retained to assist in this effort.  Each division will continue to communicate with its supporters under its legacy brand until the Parkinson's Foundation brand is fully integrated. 

The Parkinson's Foundation Board of Directors includes the following individuals:

John Kozyak, Esq. – Chair
Founding partner of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton
Miami, Florida

Howard Morgan – Vice Chair
Partner and Senior Managing Director
Argand Partners
New York, New York

Stephen Ackerman – Assistant Treasurer
Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
New York, New York

Andrew Albert – Chair of Nominating and Governance Committee
Managing Director and Operating Partner of Svoboda Capital Partners, LLC
Chicago, Illinois

Constance Woodruff Atwell, Ph.D. – Interim Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee
Former Director of the Division of Extramural Research at NIH/NINDS
Pinehurst, North Carolina

J. Gordon Beckham, Jr.
President and CEO of InfoSys McCamish Systems, LLC
Atlanta, Georgia

Marshall Burack, Esq.— Assistant Secretary
Partner at Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg
Miami, Florida

Karen Elizabeth Burke, M.D., Ph.D.
Dermatologist and research scientist on the faculties of Mt. Sinai Medical Center and Cabrini Medical Center
New York, New York

Alessandro Di Rocco, M.D.
Founders Professor of Neurology and Chief, Division of Movement Disorders, Director, The Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute for Parkinson's and Movement Disorders, (a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence) NYU Langone Medical Center
New York, New York

Alberto Dosal – Treasurer
Chairman and CEO of Dosal Capital
Miami, Florida

G. Pennington Egbert III – Chair of the Development Committee
Managing Director, Head of Global Markets Research, Americas at Nomura Securities International
New York, New York

Stanley Fahn, M.D.
H. Houston Merritt Professor of Neurology and Director Emeritus, Division of Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology at the PDF Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center
New York, New York

Richard Field
Co-Founder of Lending Tree, LLC
New Canaan, Connecticut

Guido Goldman, Ph.D.
Director of the Program for the Study of Germany at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies of Harvard University
Miami, Florida

Stephanie Goldman
Incoming President of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey and member of the Board of Lighthouse International
Norwood, New Jersey

Arlene Levine
Chair of the Fund for Women and Girls Philanthropic Breakfast of the New York Community Trust of Westchester County
Scarsdale, New York

Mindy McIlroy
Executive Vice President of Terranova Corporation
Miami, Florida

Robert Melzer
Former President and CEO of Property Capital Trust, Boston and former Chair of the Board of Directors, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
Boston, Massachusetts

Gail Milhous
Private philanthropist and community activist
Boca Raton, Florida

Michael S. Okun, M.D.
Adelaide Lackner Professor and Chairman of Neurology, University of Florida
Co-Director UF Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration
Gainesville, Florida

Timothy A. Pedley, M.D.
Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Neurology at Columbia University and past President of the American Academy of Neurology
New York, New York

Gregory Romero – Secretary
Vice President of KE Tube, Inc.
Gardner, Massachusetts

About the Parkinson's Foundation
The Parkinson's Foundation is working toward a world without Parkinson's disease.   Formed by the merger of National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) and the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF) in August 2016, the mission of the Parkinson's Foundation is to invest in promising scientific research that will end Parkinson's disease and improve the lives of people with Parkinson's, and their families, through improved treatments, support and the best care.  For more information, visit www.parkinson.org or www.pdf.org, or call (800) 4PD-INFO (473-4636) or (800) 457-6676.

About Parkinson's Disease (PD)
Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects nearly one million people in the US and over 10 million worldwide.  Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's and is the 14th leading cause of death in the US.  It is associated with a loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression) as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety).  Although promising research is being conducted, there is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease.

Contact: Leilani Pearl (NPF)
(305) 537-9907
Christiana M. Evers (PDF)
(212) 923-4700

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SOURCE National Parkinson Foundation

Related Links

http://www.parkinson.org