A philanthropic partnership is funding a first-of-its-kind online course for Parkinson’s disease, aiming to accelerate breakthroughs into the rapidly growing neurological disorder.
Former banker Michael Katz and retired global CEO Dr Richard Balanson set up the Parkinson’s Research Foundation after meeting at a fundraiser for the disease.
Michael’s wife was diagnosed with Parkinson’s six years ago. Richard has been living with the disease for 15 years.
“We both have curious minds and a shared interest in understanding why there haven’t been any significant breakthroughs for Parkinson’s disease since the 1970s, despite all of the efforts put into medical research,” Richard said.
They were dismayed to discover researchers spend up to 30 per cent of their time applying for grants with low success rates.
The pair set up a venture philanthropy fund, Miriax, which provides a sustainable revenue stream to the Foundation so it can provide long-term support to medical research.
“We want to prevent medical researchers from spending an inordinate amount of time applying for grants,” Michael said.
“We intend to provide ongoing financial support for a small number of promising projects with which we have a close working relationship.”
The pair apply their experience working in high-performance organisations to ensure projects progress efficiently.
Last year they gifted $250,000 to the University of Tasmania’s Wicking Dementia Centre and Menzies Institute for Medical Research to develop the Parkinson’s Disease Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
The MOOC provides accessible, scientifically proven information to people with Parkinson’s, their support networks and health professionals.
“The MOOC is our inaugural donation and we chose to support the University after discovering it has two dementia MOOCs in the top 10 in the world,” Michael said.
“This course is a terrific vehicle for providing people with a tertiary level understanding of the huge complexity of this disease.”
Michael said it was also the first step towards building a global Parkinson’s disease community.
Their ultimate aim? To fast-track treatments and help find a cure for the disease.
University of Tasmania Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black said the University was privileged to launch the MOOC, which would make a massive impact at scale.
He said the success of projects like these were dependent on a combination of core ingredients: lived experiences, ambition, partnerships and expert knowledge.
“We are deeply grateful to Michael, Richard and the other funders, but also to the government and our colleagues, for bringing these ingredients together, so we can transform outcomes for everyone touched by Parkinson’s disease,” Professor Black said.
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