Synapticure has worked with The Michael J. Fox Foundation to establish an expert advisory board of people living with Parkinson’s to leverage its national platform to drive rapid access and innovation in care and patient experience for people living with Parkinson’s across the country.
An estimated one million Americans are living with Parkinson's disease (PD) today. However, lengthy wait times, long distances from Centers of Excellence (COE), and a scarcity of sub-specialized neurologists mean that fewer than 30% of those patients are currently under the care of a Movement Disorders Specialist and as little as 10% have access to a COE., This means that hundreds of thousands of patients may never get access to specialized treatment plans and innovative clinical trials, slowing down the pace of acceleration for Parkinson’s research.
With Synapticure’s national telehealth offering, specialized Parkinson’s care is available to patients in the comfort of their own homes and in partnership with their existing care teams, regardless of where they live in the United States. The Michael J. Fox Foundation has worked with Synapticure to establish a Parkinson’s Expert Advisory Board composed of PD patients and care partners that will help Synapticure continuously improve and innovate its care to meet the evolving needs of the Parkinson’s community and to advance research.
Additionally, using patient onramps created by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), Synapticure patients will be made aware of opportunities to participate in clinical trials and other research opportunities. Synapticure’s goal is to provide care for people living with Parkinson’s regardless of where they live and whether they are seeing a movement disorder specialist. By doing this, we can reach a diverse group of people living with Parkinson’s and help diversify those who are in clinical research.
Synapticure brings comprehensive, cutting-edge virtual care to people living with Parkinson’s, enabling remote access to Movement Disorder Specialists, Care Coordinators, virtual speech and language therapy, in-home physical therapy, clinical trial education and support, and insurance navigation support, with mental health care coming soon. Synapticure is in-network with most major insurers and will bill patients’ insurance providers for any medical visits.
MJFF is the largest, non-profit funder of Parkinson's research in the world and is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson's disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today. To date, MJFF has funded more than $1.75 billion in global research programs. The Foundation also sponsors the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative — a landmark clinical study with 50 global sites and the most robust Parkinson’s dataset and biorepository in the world (which to date has been downloaded by global researchers more than 12.5M times).
“I am really excited to have the Michael J. Fox Foundation as an advisor to Synapticure, as their expertise and leadership in the fight against Parkinson’s will help us build out the best in-class care platform for people living with Parkinson’s,” said Synapticure co-founder Brian Wallach. Synapticure CEO, Sandra Abrevaya, added, “By working together, we can help bring care to every person living with Parkinson’s in the US and, at the same time, help accelerate the research that will lead to breakthroughs in this fight.”
Evelia Deane, MJFF’s Vice President of Partnerships and Alliances, says, “Incorporating the voice of the patient in research and in the development of solutions for care is essential. MJFF commends groups like Synapticure who have prioritized direct engagement with the Parkinson’s community, through opportunities like their Parkinson’s Expert Advisory Board.”
Synapticure’s Movement Disorder team is led by Dr. Jaime Hatcher-Martin, a long-standing advocate for the use of telemedicine to democratize expert neurological care and reduce patient burdens. Prior to joining Synapticure, Dr. Martin practiced at Emory University, where she started her own telemedicine clinic for patients with movement disorders in 2016, and at SOC Telemed (now Access Telecare). She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, served as co-chair for their Telemedicine Workgroup as well as many other telehealth subcommittees, and is on the Telemedicine Study Group for the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
People living with Parkinson's can sign up today for a telehealth visit with Synapticure’s care team, which for most is covered by insurance.
1 Parkinson’s Counter
2Parkinson’s Foundation Designates Three Centers of Excellence in Parkinson’s Care: Global Network Expands to 45 Parkinson’s Centers
About Synapticure
Synapticure is dedicated to creating the future of neurodegenerative disease patient care. Today, Synapticure is focused on providing better treatment and care for all people living with ALS through a full-stack teleneurology platform, built by and for those living with ALS. Co-founded by Brian Wallach, Sandra Abrevaya, Peter Wallach, Jason Langheier and Jonathan Hirsch, Synapticure is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. To learn more, please visit synapticure.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram for updates.
About ALS
ALS is 100% fatal and affects more than 30,000 people in the U.S. The lifetime risk of developing ALS is 1 in 300, the same as Multiple Sclerosis. Each year, more than five thousand people are diagnosed with ALS in the US alone. This number is expected to nearly double by 2060. People living with ALS, on average, live two to five years after diagnosis, and nearly half live more than 50 miles away from the closest ALS multidisciplinary clinic.
About Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes nerve cells (or neurons) in the area of the brain that controls movement to weaken and/or die. More than 10 million people worldwide are currently living with Parkinson's disease. The number of people diagnosed with with Parkinson’s Disease is expected to rise from 900,000 to 1.2 million by 2030. What causes Parkinson's remains largely unknown. Genetics cause about 10 to 15 percent of all Parkinson's. The other 85 to 90 percent of cases are classified as sporadic (or occasional). Although there is no cure, treatment options vary and include medications and surgery.
