The Board of the Shake It Up Australia Foundation congratulates their Founding Director, Mr Clyde Campbell AM, for his appointment as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division) in the Australia Day Honours List in recognition of his significant service to community health, particularly to people living with Parkinson’s disease.
Clyde founded the Shake It Up Australia Foundation in 2011 after being diagnosed with young onset Parkinson’s at the age of 44. In the 10 years since it’s inception the foundation has co-funded with The Michael J. Fox Foundation 50 Parkinson’s research projects across 13 Australian research institutes to the value of over $15 million.
Clyde’s business acumen and determination saw the foundation forge a partnership with The Michael J. Fox Foundation, who are dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today.
A driving force behind the establishment of the Australian Parkinson’s Mission, Clyde understands the importance of international collaboration in accelerating our understanding of Parkinson’s.
“Decades of research focused on unravelling the Parkinson’s puzzle is now paying off as we see the science progress at a more rapid pace. Whilst the Parkinson’s new drug pipeline is more active than it has been previously, much work remains to be done in the quest to understand better the connection between Parkinson’s pathology and the daily lived experience of the disease — and to translate this understanding into new therapies. I am honoured to receive this award which I accept on behalf of the 200,000 people living with Parkinson’s in Australia,’ said Mr Campbell.
Learn more about Clyde
About Shake It Up Australia Foundation
Shake It Up Australia Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2011 to promote and fund Parkinson’s disease research in Australia. Our mission is to find better treatments to prevent, slow and stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease and ultimately find a cure.
Following his diagnosis, Clyde set out to learn as much as he could about Parkinson’s to determine what he could do in a practical sense to assist. His search led him to the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson’s Research in the United States and the remarkable work they do to fund medical research around the world targeted at finding better treatments on the path to finding a cure for Parkinson’s.
The approach MJFF take to assessing, funding and project managing world’s best research all over the globe eliminates redundancy, ensures efficiency and unites the global community in the quest to find a cure. Clyde realised that funding Parkinson’s research in partnership with MJFF was the best thing that he could do to help himself, his family and over 200,000 Australians living with the disease. With that clear in his mind Clyde founded Shake It Up Australia Foundation to give other Australians the opportunity to join his quest.
For further information and media interviews please contact:
Vicki Miller
Executive General Manager
Shake It Up Australia Foundation
Mobile: 0413 417 486
Email: vicki@shakeitup.org.au
