In 1991, actor Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and after going public with his diagnosis, he became a committed advocate for Parkinson’s research. He founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to raise funding and awareness for the disease, and is often credited for making stem-cell research a political issue.
When asked by a TIME reader in 2009 if he thought research would find a cure for Parkinson’s during his lifetime, he said: “I do believe we will find a cure, and I hope it will be soon. In a way, it’s not about me necessarily getting better. I think that the idea behind any kind of service is that you hope that its impact will outlive you anyway, whether it happens in your lifetime or after.”