Michael J. Fox Foundation founded

The research record

This is the project's file for this landmark, as written and checked. Sources are listed at the end; anything not yet confirmed is marked "Not yet verified".

Who

Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's in 1991 at age 30, and Debi Brooks, a former Goldman Sachs executive; the foundation's own 2011 article calls them co-founders. The foundation funds itself by donations (no further funder detail read).

What happened

The foundation was established in 2000, after Fox's public disclosure of his diagnosis, with a mission centred on research rather than patient services. A 2011 foundation article describes a style of smaller, shorter grants with in-person progress updates, and grantee meetings that sparked collaborations. Fox called the hallmark "informed urgency". By mid-2011 it had funded more than $240 million, and its 2011 article called it the world's largest private funder of Parkinson's research; its home page now says "$3 billion" of research funding since inception and calls it the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research.

Why it moved us toward a cure

Its influence is indirect but large. It is a named partner in the cohort that validated the seed assay (landmark 24; landmark 9), the implementation partner for the ASAP and GP2 programmes (landmark 78), and a funder of the UK platform trial (landmark 80). The FDA's 2024 letter of support for the seed test came after collaboration between MJFF and the Critical Path Institute.

Outcome

Advanced. It is infrastructure rather than a scientific discovery, so its contribution is hard to measure; "World's largest" and the "$3 billion" total are the foundation's own claims (a media report says it outspends the US government on Parkinson's research; not independently checked). The foundation's origin story and its role in the cited programmes rest on its own pages.

Sources

• MJFF article on its funding approach (30 Jun 2011)
• MJFF home page (current funding and self-description; read 18 Oct 2026)
• AOL report on funding versus US government
• MJFF on the FDA Letter of Support, Sept 2024
• Not yet verified: the founding month, the first grants, the "$3 billion" total and the "outspends the US government" claim from any independent source (e.g. IRS filings); the date of the AOL report.