Jimmy Choi at WPC2026: Why Exercise Has Become the Field’s Most Urgent Medicine

Some researchers now openly argue that no transformative breakthrough appears imminent, and that exercise remains the single most effective intervention currently available.

“I 100 percent agree,” Choi says. “Research takes time. To really understand whether a treatment has disease-modifying effects, you need long-term data.” 

Until definitive therapies emerge, he believes the immediate priority is preserving mobility, strength and functionality for as long as possible.

 “That’s what helps keep people viable until the day we eventually have treatments that can truly slow progression.” 

His perspective increasingly aligns with the direction of current Parkinson’s research.

A major 2025 review published in npj Parkinson’s Disease argued that exercise may do more than improve symptoms temporarily. Researchers concluded that sustained physical activity activates multiple biological systems associated with neuronal survival, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), mitochondrial repair pathways, anti-inflammatory signaling and cellular cleanup mechanisms known as autophagy. 

The paper suggested exercise may have genuine neuroprotective potential, though definitive proof in humans remains incomplete.

Researchers are also increasingly interested in irisin, a muscle-derived molecule released during exercise that may help protect dopamine-producing neurons from degeneration.

Meanwhile, multiple 2025 meta-analyses found aerobic exercise consistently improved: mobility, balance, gait, cognition, and overall quality of life in Parkinson’s patients. 

Programs combining aerobic activity with strength training, balance work and coordination exercises produced especially strong results.

For many clinicians and patients, the conclusion feels simultaneously encouraging and uncomfortable: the most effective intervention currently available is also the least technologically glamorous. No miracle drug. No cure. Just movement.

Executive to athlete

Before becoming one of the world’s most recognizable Parkinson’s advocates, Choi worked as a technology executive in Chicago. Following his diagnosis, he spent years trying to ignore the disease while symptoms gradually worsened. At one point, he relied on a cane and feared losing the ability to care for his family. The turning point came after he fell while carrying his young son. What began as short walks around the block slowly evolved into increasingly aggressive physical training. Over time, exercise stopped being about fitness. It became survival. 

Asked how he sees the next decade unfolding, Choi points to the growing scientific focus on exercise, mental health and long-term disease management.

“I think the growing amount of research around exercise, mental health and self-care is going to help the next generation of people being diagnosed today,” he says. 

Again, he returns to Michael J. Fox.

“Michael J. Fox is a mentor of mine,” Choi says. “When people like me were diagnosed, we already had the benefit of all the work Michael had done. And now the scientific and research communities are building even more momentum.” 

That momentum, Choi believes, may not deliver a cure immediately, but it could significantly improve how people manage the disease and preserve quality of life.

“People diagnosed moving forward will have more information than I had when I was diagnosed,” he says. “Hopefully that helps them manage the disease better from the start, and hopefully it buys them a little more time.” 

At the same time, he believes Parkinson’s treatment will almost certainly become more individualized.

“Personally, I think it’s multiple conditions,” Choi says. “I believe people with Parkinson’s will ultimately need individualized treatment approaches.” 

For now, however, the debate remains unresolved.

Researchers continue searching for biomarkers, genetic signatures and biological explanations for why Parkinson’s progresses so differently from one patient to another. But until those answers become clearer - and until genuine disease-modifying therapies emerge - one reality remains difficult to ignore:

Hope is growing faster than certainty. 

And in the middle of that uncertainty stands Jimmy Choi - visibly affected by Parkinson’s, but still moving through crowded conference halls with the energy of someone refusing to slow down. 

The revolution many hoped for has not arrived. So for now, he keeps moving.