Michael J. Fox: How to honor Muhammad Ali

As heartbreaking as this weekend's loss has been, we are grateful that it brings us an opportunity to share good news: Parkinson's research, and brain disease research as a whole, are making unprecedented advances.

In the 30 years since Ali was diagnosed, new insights from cell biology and genetics, coupled with emerging research technologies, have cracked open new therapeutic approaches and strategies for living with the disease. Doing nothing used to be the standard response to a Parkinson's diagnosis. That has changed. Today, proactive avenues beckon both investigators and people with disease.

So, where do we stand? We've identified a handful of truly promising drug targets, shed greater light on areas of overlap between the pathways and cellular function involved in different brain diseases, and made real inroads toward understanding the causes of disease onset and progression. But much work remains to be done. And now — as our population continues to age, as ever more families experience the devastating impact of brain disease — is the time to do it.

Patients' greatest unmet need has not changed since our foundation launched in 2000: a treatment that could slow or stop the progression of the disease, rather than merely mask symptoms. (While we rejoice that three new Parkinson's drugs have made it to market over the past 18 months, all are symptomatic, not curative.)

Our foundation has funded hundreds of millions in research to address this challenge, but we cannot do it on our own. Both government-funded academic researchers and the biopharmaceutical industry must commit to greater investment in brain research, including potentially transformative high-risk/high-reward investigations.

Patients and families, too, must continue to mobilize and take their place on the front lines of discovery. Virtual and online studies, wearable computing devices, big data and traditional clinical trial participation all are helping transform the traditional "one-way monologue" of drug development, researcher to patient, into a dialogue informed by the experiences of those living with disease. Thousands have joined our foundation's community of citizen scientists; tens of thousands more are needed. If you want to become involved, our website can get you started.

"Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare," Ali famously said. Curing Parkinson's disease once seemed impossible. But momentum is at last on our side. We believe without fail that cures are within reach if we dare to do more, not less. Muhammad Ali showed us what it means to have the heart of a champion. Now is our chance to honor him by finishing the fight he could not.