DONOR SPOTLIGHT
FINDING THE WORDS FOR GRATITUDE BY ELAINE GUREGIAN
W
hen a researcher receives a federal grant of nearly a million dollars, it might seem like a golden ticket. No doubt, the grant that Sheila Fleming, Ph.D., received from the Department of Defense for Parkinson’s disease research in 2019 gave her the much-needed financial stability to move ahead. And having that amount matched for her research colleague at Michigan State University allowed the two scientists to proceed with assurance. But Dr. Fleming and her colleagues got goosebumps when they were in the room with Alan Woll, a Northeast Ohio resident who has Parkinson’s disease, and Woll announced that he and his wife, Janice, would like to financially support 36 I G N I T I N G
NEOMED’s research on neurodegenerative disease. “You could just see that it was very meaningful to him. Obviously that generosity is incredible. It makes you want to do everything you can — to come in early and stay late. You feel a big responsibility — sometimes even more so than when you’ve competed for a grant, because it feels more personal,” says Dr. Fleming.
A PERSONAL STAKE Woll’s interest in neurodegenerative research extends from Parkinson’s – his own diagnosis — to Alzheimer’s, with which Janice Woll has been diagnosed. In one of the many partnerships that take place among NEOMED researchers in the Neurodegenerative Disease and
T H E PA S S I O N O F P H Y S I C I A N S , P H A R M A C I S T S A N D H E A LT H C A R E R E S E A R C H E R S
Aging Research Focus Area, Fleming’s colleague and collaborator Christine Dengler-Crish, Ph.D., is studying an exercise hormone called irisin that may have therapeutic potential in Alzheimer’s. Dr. Dengler-Crish’s pilot work has been promising and she expanded the project to include Dr. Fleming’s Parkinson models. Alan Woll’s grant allowed Drs. Dengler-Crish and Fleming to hire a postdoctoral fellow and a graduate student to work on these projects. The collaboration with Dr. Dengler-Crish complements Dr. Fleming’s research studying the effect of exercise on both motor issues (such as difficulty walking) and non-motor symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, cardiovascular issues,