"I'm proud to help make a difference for all of us living with PD by lending my voice on a council that focuses on patient priorities, in all aspects of the Foundation's work."
Israel works as a special education teacher. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2007 at age 42. He soon became involved with the Parkinson's community as an advocate for increased clinical trial participation and health-related quality of life issues related to PD.
He serves on the Executive Council for Parkinson's Movement -- an initiative of the Cure Parkinson's Trust in England, the integration panel for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (Parkinson's Research Program) and the Editorial Board of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.
Israel has also served in an advisory and support capacity for the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, the World Parkinson Congress and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.
Israel's family includes his wife, Chris, three daughters and two grandchildren.
The MJFF Patient Council was established in March 2009 as a formal channel for the Foundation to solicit input from PD patients and the broader Parkinson's community. The Council advises the Foundation on programmatic fronts including (but not limited to) strategies to best convey patient priorities to the research community and its funders; content and emphasis for patient education and outreach relevant to MJFF's mission to find a cure; patient roles in developing novel ways to conduct research; and mechanisms for impact assessment.