By Katie Taranto; Published March 10, 2025 at 3:45PM
A Dominion Hills woman diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease received national recognition last month for her advocacy work.
Allison Signorelli was honored with the Citizen Scientist Cultivator Award for participating in various research trials after being diagnosed with the disease in 2022 at age 47.
Signorelli has spent the last three years advocating for Parkinson’s disease research and building an online community with over 65,000 Instagram followers.
“We need more awareness. We need more funding for research. We need more answers,” Signorelli told ARLnow. “I just try and put a face to this disease that people may not expect, so that they continue to seek answers and understand that this community really needs support.”
The recent accolade from the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation celebrates research trial participants for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, neurodegenerative diseases with similar symptoms and features.
Signorelli first noticed symptoms while sitting in the stands watching her daughter’s high school soccer tryouts in 2018.
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s weird,’ like, I had a little muscle spasm in my right ankle,” Signorelli said. “But then it never went away.”
At the time, doctors brushed it off, suggesting it was caused by stress or a vitamin deficiency. With a family history of benign tremors, Signorelli didn’t pay it much mind.
But the tremors continued increasingly, and by 2020, she struggled with basic tasks, like holding a pen or eating a meal. Then, while touring her daughter’s college in 2022, her right arm went limp.
“[The doctor] was like, ‘has anyone ever talked to you about this possibly being Parkinson’s disease?’ And I was like, ‘what?’” she said.
Upon visiting a specialist at GW University Hospital, she was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Learning that it was incurable and progressive, Signorelli recalled experiencing “a moment of grief and fear” — but it didn’t last forever.
“I heard a quote once that said, ‘the antidote to despair is action,’ and that really has been my guiding light,” she said.
Shortly after her diagnosis, Signorelli signed up for the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative study and reached out to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to see how she could help.
“I just try and spread the word and do my part,” Signorelli said. “I consider this to be sort of like a team relay race.”
Today, she is one of the foundation’s patient council members, serving as a disease research ambassador. She appeared in an interview with Katie Couric last April, where she advocated for the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act.
The act, signed into law in July, calls for the National Institutes of Health to create and maintain “a National Plan to prevent, diagnose, treat and cure Parkinson’s, as well as stop disease progression.”
Through her advocacy efforts, Signorelli met celebrity multiple-sclerosis advocates Christina Applegate and Jamie Lynn Sigler, and appeared on their podcast, MeSsy, last month to discuss community building. She also met Michael J. Fox himself.
“I’m a child of the ’80s, obviously, but also, I was born in Canada, so he’s a fellow Canadian, and I was obsessed with him when I was young,” Signorelli said. “I thanked him on behalf of all of the patients and the families. It was really great.”
Using her blog and Instagram platform, @ImStillAllie, she hopes to dispel the stigmas surrounding neurodegenerative diseases while creating an account where other early-onset patients can feel understood.
This Saturday, Signorelli embarks on a new role as the next host of the Parkinson’s “IQ + You” speaking tour series with the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Over a two-year term, she’ll share her story and host panel discussions meant for Parkinson’s disease patients and their families. The first talks are scheduled in Orlando, Minneapolis, Nashville and Honolulu.
“One of the mottos of the Fox Foundation is, if not us, then who?” Signorelli said. “That’s sort of how I feel about it — like, if not me, then who? If I leave it to the next generation, then that means my kids are going to have to deal with it, and I don’t want that.”