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TO HEALTH, MEDICAL, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
National Parkinson Foundation Welcomes New Board Leadership and Four
New Members
MIAMI, Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Parkinson
Foundation (NPF) announced the election of a new Chairman of the
Board, John W. Kozyak, Esq., and four new members to its Board of
Directors: Patricia de Stacy Harrison, Alessandro Di Rocco, M.D.,
Timothy Martorella and Roberto L. Palenzuela.
"NPF is honored to have John Kozyak as our new Chairman of the Board
and to welcome its new members. Each one provides diverse
perspectives, reflective of our national footprint, and shows a
commitment to helping people with Parkinson's live better lives," said
Joyce Oberdorf, NPF's President and CEO. "In addition, we are deeply
indebted to Dr. Fogel for his tireless and exemplary service to the
Parkinson's community."
John W. Kozyak, Esq., has served on the board as a member of the
Executive Committee for five years. Both of Mr. Kozyak's parents are
living with Parkinson's disease. Kozyak is a founding partner of
Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, a commercial litigation and bankruptcy
law firm in Miami, Florida. Mr. Kozyak is a passionate advocate for
better care and support services for families affected by a
Parkinson's diagnosis. He believes strongly in NPF's historic
commitment that all people with Parkinson's deserve access to expert
care and information. He established the Kozyak Minority Mentoring
Foundation to fulfill his lifelong commitment to minorities and the
underserved.
Bernard J. Fogel, M.D., has been a member of the NPF board since 2007
and chairman since 2008 and is now retiring as Chairman of the Board.
Dr. Fogel has a personal interest in Parkinson's-his own father
struggled with the disease for decades. Under his leadership, NPF
launched a pioneer research study, the Parkinson's Outcomes Project,
which has the potential to improve the quality of care for everyone
living with Parkinson's. Dr. Fogel was also instrumental in launching
NPF's signature event, Moving Day@, a Walk for Parkinson's, which has
raised nationwide awareness of the disease and millions of dollars for
the cause.
The four new members bring deep and wide-ranging philanthropic
experience to NPF's board and are reflective of our national strategy
to increase board diversity:
Patricia de Stacy Harrison is president and chief executive officer of
the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the leading funder of
public radio and public television programming for the American
people. Ms. Harrison established the first Diversity and Innovation
Fund for public media-radio, television, online and mobile. Ms.
Harrison is chairman of the Leadership Council of Women and Girls
Lead, an innovative public media initiative designed to focus, educate
and connect women, girls and their allies across the globe. In 2012,
she was included on the Forbes list of "Women Changing the World in
Media" for establishing Women and Girls Lead. She also sits on the
boards of the National Italian American Foundation and the Meridian
International Center.
Alessandro Di Rocco, M.D., is Chief of the Division of Movement
Disorders, the Director of the NYU Parkinson's and Movement Disorders
Center, an NPF Center of Excellence, at NYU Langone Medical Center,
and Professor of Neurology at the NYU School of Medicine. Formerly, he
was the director of movement disorders at Beth Israel Medical Center
and the director at the Parkinson's disease & movement disorders
clinic at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Di Rocco's main academic
interest is in developing more effective treatments for Parkinson's
disease and its motor, cognitive, and neuropsychological
complications.
Timothy Martorella is the founding principal of Madison Capital Group,
a real estate investment and advisory firm based in Miami. He has led
Madison since its founding in 1998. Mr. Martorella was previously a
partner at Boston Financial and a director with the firm's Investment
Banking Group. Mr. Martorella was a principal and founding partner of
Alliance Realty Capital, a real estate investment banking firm. He
currently serves on the Board of Directors of Carrfour Supportive
Housing and is a licensed real estate broker in Florida and New York.
Roberto L. Palenzuela has been providing legal insight and regulatory
guidance to both private and public companies in the healthcare
industry for over 25 years. He is currently the Chief Operating
Officer for Community Medical Group (CMG). Prior to his tenure at CMG,
he was General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance
Officer for Florida-based Metropolitan Health Networks, Inc. Mr.
Palenzuela served on the founding Board of Directors of CareCloud
Corporation. Presently, he serves on the Board of Directors of
Christopher Columbus High School and of Medi-Home, Inc.
In addition, the following members serve as officers: Andrew B.
Albert, Managing Director and Operating Partner of Svoboda Capital
Partners, LLC, was elected Vice Chairman; E.Richard Alhadeff, Esq.,
retired member of Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson,
PA, was elected Vice Chairman, Secretary; Paul F. Oreffice, former
Chairman of Dow Chemical Company, will serve as Chairman Emeritus; and
Martin L. Solomonwill continue to serve as Treasurer.
This year, NPF created a new Emeritus Board of Directors and its first
members are as follows: Edythe Kay-Marsa, Harold P. Kravitz, Esq., Jo
Ann Pepper Oreffice, and Robert H. Traurig, Esq. The foundation is
grateful for their longtime commitment to the organization and their
contributions to the tremendous strides NPF has made in the ensuing
years in fulfilling its mission.
For a complete list of the NPF Board of Directors, visit
www.parkinson.org.
About Parkinson's Disease (PD) Affecting an estimated one million
Americans and four to six million worldwide, PD is the second most
common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's and is the 14th
leading cause of death in the United States. It is associated with a
progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and
lack of facial expression) as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g.,
depression and anxiety). There is no cure for PD and 60,000 new cases
are diagnosed each year in the United States alone.
About the National Parkinson Foundation (NPF) Founded in 1957, the
National Parkinson Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of
care for people with Parkinson's disease through research, education
and outreach. NPF has funded more than $180 million in care, research
and support services. For more information about NPF, visit
www.parkinson.org, or call the NPF Helpline at 1-800-4PD-INFO
(473-4636).
Media Contact: Leilani Pearl 305-537-9907 lpearl@parkinson.org
SOURCE National Parkinson Foundation
-0- 02/26/2014
/Web Site: http://www.parkinson.org
CO: National Parkinson Foundation
ST: Florida
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