Parkinson’s Foundation Invests Nearly $600K in Innovative Care Grants
Award recipients explore care models to improve outcomes for Parkinson’s patients
NEW YORK and MIAMI, May 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Parkinson’s Foundation has announced an investment of nearly $600,000 toward three award grants to fund innovative practices in clinical care that can improve the health and quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The inaugural Paul Oreffice Innovations in Care Awards recipients will explore new models for improvements in health information quality, inclusion of one-on-one mentorship programs and expansion of AI technologies.
“The Parkinson’s Foundation is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Paul Oreffice Innovation in Care Awards, a program that promotes forward-thinking strategies and shines on a light on the specific health needs of the Parkinson’s community,” said Parkinson’s Foundation President and CEO John L. Lehr. “These investments reflect the Foundation’s continued commitment to improving care systems to help people with PD live better lives, today.”
The Paul Oreffice Innovations in Care Awards program is a result of the Parkinson’s Foundation National Roundtable on Care and Innovation held earlier last year, which brought together PD experts across several sectors to establish consensus around the most urgent priorities for people living with PD. The awards program aligns with the Roundtable’s core themes and was open to all clinicians who are licensed to care for patients in the United States and could demonstrate a significant focus on PD.
The proposals funded under this grant opportunity fall under one of three categories: Care Models (telehealth, APPs, etc.), Technology (wearables, AI) or Resilience (diet, exercise, meditation, narrative). This year’s awardees will be investigating a wide variety of ways to improve care for people with PD, ranging from an APP navigator program to a peer mentoring curriculum, and a virtual smartphone coach.
The 2026 Paul Oreffice Innovations in Care Awards recipients are:
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Principal Investigator: Nina Browner, MD
Award Title: Right Care, Right Time: APP-Led, Electronic Health Record-Embedded Hospital-to-Home Care Model
Rush University Medical Center
Principal Investigator: Jori Fleisher, MD
Award Title: Adapting a Peer Mentor-Supported Educational Intervention to Improve Resilience and Health Outcomes in People living with Parkinson’s Disease
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Principal Investigator: Ludy Shih, MD, MMSc, FAAN, FANA
Award Title: Embodied Conversational Agents for Parkinson’s Disease (ECA-PD)
“We are excited to see how evidence from these new care delivery models can inform recommendations for standards of care nationwide for a population, like those living with PD, that face complex care needs,” said Sneha Mantri, MS, MD, FAAN, chief medical officer for the Parkinson’s Foundation. “The Parkinson’s Foundation is committed to continuing to transform health standards that ensure every person who receives a PD diagnosis has easier access to timely, quality and affordable care.”
Parkinson’s Foundation grants are selected through a highly competitive application process that is comprised of a peer-review panel of scientific experts, including Foundation-trained research advocates, as well as members of the Foundation’s People with Parkinson’s Advisory Council.
The Paul Oreffice Innovations in Care Awards are named in honor of Paul Oreffice, a visionary leader in American business and a dedicated Parkinson’s advocate. Oreffice served on the National Parkinson Foundation board and was Chairman from 2003 to 2007. Aimed at addressing the most pressing healthcare challenges faced by individuals with PD, these awards will reflect Oreffice’s commitment to advancing PD research.
For more information about this year’s recipients, or for more information about Parkinson’s Foundation grant opportunities, please visit Parkinson.org/ClinicianGrants.
About the Parkinson’s Foundation
The Parkinson’s Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson’s community. Since 1957, the Parkinson’s Foundation has invested more than $513 million in Parkinson’s research and clinical care. Connect with us on Parkinson.org, Facebook, X, Instagram or call 1-800-4PD-INFO (1-800-473-4636).
About Parkinson’s Disease
Affecting more than one million Americans, Parkinson’s disease is the fastest growing neurological disorder in the world. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression), as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., trouble sleeping, loss of smell and depression). There is no cure for Parkinson’s and nearly 90,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Melissa Nobles Gonzalez
Parkinson’s Foundation
mgonzalez@parkinson.org
305.537.9134
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SOURCE Parkinson’s Foundation
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