Michael J. Fox shares ‘sense of urgency’ as he talks about Parkinson’s

Michael J. Fox has opened up about his struggles in life ever since his Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis.

Despite retiring from acting twice, he recently came back in front of the cameras for a guest spot in season 3 of Shrinking, and has consistently performed his role with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has funded more than $3 billion in research for Parkinson’s disease since he founded it in 2000.

As someone who has lived with Parkinson’s himself, and who made a decision more than two decades ago to become a public face of the disease, he told PEOPLE magazine, “[I knew] my name could attract attention to help us achieve our goals faster. But I also have this disease. I know the issues and I share my community’s sense of urgency.”

His work doing just that is now being honored by the Lasker Foundation, whose annual awards for scientific research are sometimes called America’s Nobels, with the Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award.

Previous honorees have included Bill and Melinda Gates, Anthony Fauci and Christopher Reeve.

It isn’t always easy to be in the spotlight with the symptoms that Fox can experience, including tremors and balance issues, “Of course, things have gotten harder over the years,” he admits. But, “I’m privileged to commit my time and energy to bringing everything I’ve got to help cure this disease.”

Fox, who has won five Emmys as well as four Golden Globes over his long career, in which he starred in hit shows like Family Ties and Spin City, as well as the blockbuster Back to the Future, says the Lasker prize “is a standout. Lasker winners show the world what science can achieve when we keep our eyes on the prize. To be included in that company is humbling,”

The actor, who is now 65 years old, says he shares the prize with “the researchers and clinicians on the front lines of cure hunting, and the patients and families who critically inform that mission.”

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Lasker Foundation says Michael J. Fox, who first began experiencing Parkinson’s symptoms in 1990 at the age of 29, and his foundation “have helped dispel the stigma of the disease and spearheaded a revolution in the world of PD research.”