In December of 2020, the Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Foundation Fund for Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders was established through the generosity of Eddie Smith and his family. This fund will support research for disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, ALS, and Huntington’s.
The Smith family has been long time supporters of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, and unfortunately, their connection to these conditions is personal. “Our family has been heavily impacted by neurodegenerative disorders. My late wife suffered from both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and our son is afflicted with a very aggressive form of ALS. Focused ultrasound shows tremendous promise in dealing with diseases of these types, and I firmly believe that it will be a noninvasive game changer and tremendous breakthrough in medical technology not only for neurodegenerative disorders but many other diseases as well,” says Eddie Smith.
This partnership will help fund an ever-growing pipeline of preclinical laboratory studies and clinical trials around the world. Projects will build upon the substantial body of encouraging evidence that demonstrates the feasibility, safety and efficacy of focused ultrasound for neurodegenerative disorders. Furthermore, these additional resources will inform the field about the potential of focused ultrasound to halt progression and perhaps even reverse the neurological deterioration and restore function.
The Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Foundation Fund for Focused Ultrasound Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders will help the Focused Ultrasound Foundation achieve its mission of making focused ultrasound widely available in the shortest amount of time, thereby improving the lives of countless people impacted by these terrible diseases and to offer a new hope to patients and their families.
“The Foundation is extremely grateful to the Smith family for their leadership and vision in recognizing the promise of focused ultrasound. With their help, we can help advance this completely new, game changing approach to treating neurodegenerative disorders,” says Foundation Chairman Neal F. Kassell, MD.