I’ve never disliked anything Michael J. Fox has been in, from Family Ties to his recent run on Rescue Me. (All right, Spin City could be a bit lame.)   And of course, we share an illness.  But I developed a new respect for him after attending a roundtable discussion last night on Parkinson’s Disease Research hosted by his foundation (http://www.michaeljfox.org/ , known as the MJFF).

I’m assuming an organization gets its mission and personality from the top. And certainly Michael J. Fox is a celebrity with powerful connections and reach. But lots of well-intentioned famous people have started foundations that haven’t exactly exploded onto the landscape (ever heard of the Bruce Willis Foundation?)  The MJFF, devoted to finding and funding viable PD research, is hugely impressive.  They’re laser-focused on their mission, very well organized and attracting bright talent; last night’s discussion included a few of the country’s top PD researchers, including Harvard Medical School’s Michael Schwarzchild. They’re innovative, and willing to work with both academia and the corporate world in novel ways.

They have heart. Sure, someone cued up the promotional video for Team Fox, and the whole room welled up. But the foundation’s appeal goes beyond slick production values; they seem genuinely interested in people’s stories, and in not letting them get lost in the larger statistics of research.   And their work is inspirational, no doubt offering hope to a lot of people.  This inspiration clearly comes from Michael himself.

I’ve got caller ID at home to keep fundraisers away, along with telemarketers and various nuisances.  But if I looked down today and saw MJFF, I think I would answer.