Open-Ocean Row Raises a Record-Breaking $41 Million to Speed Parkinson's Research

News provided by

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

Sep 16, 2024, 07:00 ET

"Team Human Powered Potential's" open-ocean row, completed on July 19, has raised $41 million for The Michael J. Fox Foundation's strategic research agenda toward better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease
The critical research funds were contributed by thousands of individual donors whose donations were matched three-to-one by an anonymous donor
The dollars raised directly support the Foundation's high-impact global research priorities, and come at a transformative moment in Parkinson's research

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Four endurance athletes dubbed "Team Human Powered Potential" (Team HPP) — who together rowed 41 days and 2,800 miles across the Pacific Ocean this summer — have raised a record-breaking $41 million for Parkinson's research, surpassing their original $28-million goal.

The funds will directly support the high-impact research programs of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) and will be immediately put to use to support critical science at a transformative moment in Parkinson's research.

This inspiring athletic feat — which launched in Monterey Bay, California on June 8 and landed in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, Hawaii on July 19— garnered more than 26,000 individual donations through grassroots fundraising efforts. Every dollar raised was matched three to one by an anonymous donor.

Team HPP — Patrick Morrissey, 53, of Durango, Colorado, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) in 2019, alongside his friends and fellow rowers Brendan Cusick, Peter Durso and Scott Forman — inspired thousands to voice their support, including shoutouts from Michael J. Fox and Foundation Board member Ryan Reynolds.

"We've seen some epic feats from our community through the years — and what Team Human Powered Potential has accomplished will go down as one of the biggest and boldest," says Michael J. Fox. "Pat, Brendan, Scott and Peter took on a mind-blowing physical challenge, and rallied the support of thousands. These moments remind us that when we work together, a cure for Parkinson's is inevitable."

Since 2000, the Foundation's innovative model has funded more than $2 billion to support high-impact global research programs. Our aggressively funded research agenda has supported and enabled the field's most recent transformative milestones, including the discovery and validation of a Parkinson's biomarker, known as the alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay (αSyn-SAA), which recently received a "Letter of Support" from the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) encouraging researchers and drugmakers to use it as a critical tool to speed therapeutic development. The Letter of Support notes the vital role of the Foundation's landmark clinical study the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), in the discovery and validation of the long-sought biomarker.

With this critical tool in hand, funds raised through HPP are allowing MJFF to drive deeper biological understanding of Parkinson's through expansion of the PPMI study. Advances in these tools across brain diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and related dementias are moving the field further in its understanding of neurodegeneration, the underpinnings of pathology and possible treatment solutions.

Team Human Powered Potential: A Historic Finish

Team HPP was one of nine teams from around the globe participating in The World's Toughest Row. Today, Team HPP has become the top fundraiser by raising more than any other World's Toughest Row individual team since its inception, the first four-man American team to complete the Pacific crossing and Morrissey also becomes the first person with PD to row across the Pacific.

"Being out on the ocean, rowing for a cure and feeling the unconditional support from my teammates and the larger community will be something I always cherish," says Morrissey. "Together, we endured every moment on the water to get here. It shows that if you put the right people around you — in a boat or not — you can achieve anything."

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF)

As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding $2 billion in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; creates a robust open- access data set and biosample library to speed scientific breakthroughs and treatment with its landmark clinical study, PPMI; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world. For more information, visit us at www.michaeljfox.org, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn.

SOURCE The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research