One Step Closer to a Parkinson Cure

As announced in a recent Florence press conference, thanks to a $25 million global donation by the Paolo and Marlene Fresco Foundation, “NYU Langone Medical Center” in Manhattan is expanding to Florence. This extension, called the “Fresco Institute Italia for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders,” will be a research center located in Fiesole with the intention of merging synergies of both top American and Italian medical researchers to discover effective treatment, research, and knowledge on Parkinson’s disease.

Not only will the Fresco Institute Italia join forces with American medical professionals, furthering knowledge on Parkinson’s disease, but it is deemed an opportunity for students in the medical field to attain graduate fellowships with specializations in treatment, clinical research, and basic research.

 Every year in Italy there are an estimated 5,000-10,000 new cases of patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In the United States, there are about 50,000-60,000 – from five to ten times higher than in Italy. Having both countries collaborate on such a specialized medical problem – the causes of which are unknown — will help speed up the process of finding a cure to help those hundreds of thousands diagnosed yearly.

The non-profit organization “Fondazione Fresco Institute Italia” is made possible by the Italian-American trustee of NYU Langone Medical Center, Paolo Fresco and Kenneth G. Langone, founder and creator of Invemed Associates, LLC. Both worked closely with Alessandro di Rocco, Director of the Fresco Institute at NYU Langone. Alessandro di Rocco notes that better treatments will be developed once the clinical and scientific collaborations with Italian Parkinson’s organizations follows through with this upcoming project.

Research will start immediately while the actual building is being designed and constructed. This foundation is an all around positive opportunity for the people involved, the students, and the patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s because the disease will be one step closer to being a curable one.

For more information visit: www.frescoinstituteitalia.it and www.med.nyu.edu/parkinson  (Kim Frias)