Sohini Chowdhury, Deputy CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, Named to Crain's New York Business Notable Women in Health Care List

NEW YORK, Aug. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sohini Chowdhury, Deputy CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF), has been selected by Crain's New York Business for inclusion on the publication's inaugural list of "Notable Women in Health Care." The list recognizes female leaders in the health care industry who have impacted the greater New York City community through their professional, civic and philanthropic achievements. Chowdhury's nomination follows a 13-year track record of leading MJFF's efforts to engage the patient and researcher communities in its mission to accelerate better treatments and a cure for Parkinson's disease.

"For more than a decade, Sohini has lent her business acumen and community-building instincts to our research mission to cure Parkinson's," said Todd Sherer, PhD, chief executive officer at MJFF. "The Foundation and the Parkinson's research landscape have benefited tremendously from her expertise as a strategic convener and tactical leader."

Chowdhury has been instrumental in building innovative alliances with pharmaceutical and biotech firms as partners to help drive Parkinson's research. She oversees the $80-million Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), the MJFF-sponsored landmark clinical study that has united the Parkinson's field around the search to identify and validate Parkinson's disease biomarkers. Launched in 2010, the PPMI study now is co-funded by a consortium of 22 industry partners and has enrolled 1,500 volunteer participants around the globe. In January, the Foundation for NIH announced that it would leverage PPMI's peerless Parkinson's datasets and biosamples for state-of-the-art analysis through the Accelerating Medicines Partnership Parkinson's Disease (AMP PD) program, a $24-million public-private partnership with NIH, MJFF and five life sciences companies.

Under Chowdhury's leadership, the Foundation also has established robust and appealing platforms to educate patients and families about their power to accelerate Parkinson's research. These include Fox Insight, MJFF's online clinical study of more than 22,000 participants (and counting) that amplifies the patient voice in research outcomes by marrying lived-experience and genetic data. Chowdhury also led the development and launch of Fox Trial Finder, the Foundation's online smart-matching tool that allows 78,000 (and counting) volunteers to more easily connect with the clinical studies that need them.

Michael J. Fox has said of Sohini: "Sohini brings vision, analytical and process expertise and passion to her work at the Foundation — a rare combination that ideally suits her to implement groundbreaking change on behalf of people living with Parkinson's disease."

Through the end of 2018, Chowdhury will represent MJFF at several notable conferences including as a panelist during the Financial Times Global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Conference and as the keynote lecturer at the European Brain Council's "Industry Day."

Co-founded by a woman, The Michael J. Fox Foundation has long demonstrated a commitment to cultivating female leadership, with women today making up 70 percent of the senior leadership team.

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
As the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson's disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson's patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding more than $800 million in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson's research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson's disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson's awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world. For more information, visit us on the Web, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

SOURCE The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

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