Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation Charity Golf Tourney Set for June 16

World-class pianist Gohei Nishikawa will perform during the evening program of The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation’s 22nd Annual Golf Invitational, slated for June 16, 2014, at Century Golf Club in Purchase, NY.  

Nearly 300 guests are expected to attend the golf invitational, the Foundation’s premier fund raiser that raises more than $1 million annually for dystonia and Parkinson’s disease research.

Willie Geist, co-anchor of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Today's Take and third hour of The Today Show, who also serves as the Foundations spokesperson, is this year’s master of ceremonies.  In 2012, Bill Geist, Willie’s father and host of CBS’ Sunday Morning, announced to his viewers that he has Parkinson’s disease.

The theme of this year’s event is Stepping Forward Towards a Cure.  The full-day, invitation-only event, beginning at 11 a.m., includes lunch, a Pro-Am golf tournament, cocktails, live auction and will conclude with dinner.   The event attracts top CEOs and Executives who join forces to help raise much needed funding for dystonia and Parkinson’s disease research. Notable guests include Thomas W. Strauss, chairman of Ramius, LLC and vice chairman, Cowen Group; Charlie Collier, president of AMC Cable Television Channel; Jason Spacek, managing director of the Alternative Assets Group at RBC Capital Markets; and others. 

Nishikawa, a classical pianist who stopped performing for years due to dystonia, was a rising young star who had performed at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. In 2003, he was diagnosed with dystonia, which halted his promising career. Rather than giving up performing, he decided to do whatever it took to play again and help others with dystonia. Although he still does not have the full use of his hands, he created his own way of playing the piano without utilizing all his fingers.  Since then, he has given comeback performances in New York, Italy, Vancouver and Tokyo.

Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that causes uncontrollable and, at times, painful spasms in one or more parts of the body.  It affects an estimated 500,000 men, women, and

children in North America alone, striking more people than muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease combined.

Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the central nervous system caused by a change in the part of the brain that controls movement such as walking and balance.  It affects approximately 1 million Americans.  A fourfold increase in the number of people affected with Parkinson’s disease is estimated in 40 years as America’s population ages.

Auctioneer Jamie Niven, Chairman of Sotheby’s, will once again host the live auction, featuring one-of-a-kind items such as a Decadent Dinner for 12 prepared by celebrity chef David Burke; a golf outing hosted by a club member at the esteemed Shinnecock Hills Golf Club; and a week’s vacation at the Villa Avalon in St. Barths, among other luxurious items.

For further information about The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation, visit the Foundation’s web site at www.dystonia-parkinson.org.  For information about the 22nd Annual Dystonia & Parkinson Golf Invitational, please contact Christina Pepi[CP1] , at 212-682-9900.

The Bachmann-Strauss Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, 501©(3) organization that was established in 1995 by Louis Bachmann (1916-2000) and Bonnie Strauss to find better treatments and cures for the movement disorders dystonia and Parkinson’s disease and to provide medical and patient information.  The Foundation funds scientific and clinical research and helps raise awareness of dystonia and Parkinson’s disease among the general public and the medical community.

Since its founding, The Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation has given more than $17 million to support basic, translational and clinical research and other scientific and educational projects.  Of this amount, the Foundation has invested $15 million in seed funding for 235 research grants, enabling researchers to leverage an additional $117 million from the National Institutes of Health and other sources.  Additionally, the Foundation established four Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia and Parkinson’s Disease Centers of Excellence at leading medical research centers and institutes across the United States, to provide patients with specialized clinical care and access to cutting-edge research.  The Centers are located at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center; the University of Alabama at Birmingham; the University of California, San Francisco; and the University of Florida.  Major accomplishments of the Foundation include funding the discovery of dystonia genes, the creation of animal models, and the advancement of new therapies and treatments (drugs and deep brain stimulation).