In this episode we get the historical context and regulatory challenges surrounding pesticide use with researcher Dr. Caroline Tanner, Director of the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center. Then, retired lawyer, Dan Kinel, shares his journey with Parkinson’s, his story of Trichloroethylene (TCE) exposure working for years in downtown New York, and his work in patient advocacy.

About Dr. Caroline Tanner

Dr. Tanner is the Director of the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. For more than 25 years, her research and clinical practice have been directed toward understanding the causes of Parkinson’s disease and to developing better treatments. Her many studies include military service-related exposures and PD risk in Camp Lejeune.

About Dan Kinel

Dan Kinel is a retired partner at a law firm that was located next to a contaminated site where an environmental assessment found that the surrounding soil was contaminated with TCE, PCE, and other chemicals. Since being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2013, he has become deeply involved in patient advocacy and believes in the power of personal face-to-face connections in fighting PD.