About Us

Jenifer Raub is co-founder and President of Summit for Stem Cell Foundation, Inc. (Summit) since it began as a 510(c)(3) charitable organization. Summit works for the benefit of approximately 10 million people worldwide struggling with Parkinson's disease (PD) and 1 billion living with a neurodegenerative disease.

When told she "might have" Parkinson's fifteen years ago, Jenifer spent two years trying to negate or confirm the "iffy" diagnosis. During those two years, Jenifer withdrew from her life seeing specialist after specialist seeking answers and was told time and time again,“You might have PD…” IF she had PD, what could she do about it…? Could she do anything about it…? A DaTscan (Dopamine transporter scan) finally confirmed the diagnosis. She began a search for answers and her fight against PD…

Coincidentally, in her past, she had voraciously read about the identification of neurotransmitters and, in particular, Curt Freed's work transplanting fetal tissue to replace dopamine in Parkinson's disease. She began to search for a "stem cell solution" for Parkinson's disease.

In 2014, barely able to walk without the aid of two canes, Jenifer found a fledgling Parkinson's focused research project in the lab of Dr. Jeanne Loring, which needed funding. Three weeks later, Jenifer, her husband, a small group of Parkinson's advocates, and some friends hosted an event and raised $1.3 million. This provided the needed cash infusion for the project working towards an autologous dopamine neuron replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease.

From that day forward Summit evolved and became the organization it is today. Jenifer is a tireless advocate for Parkinson's disease breaking down barriers and bridging gaps by educating professionals and the public alike about regenerative medicine. Having Parkinson's disease herself, she understands what it is to have Parkinson's disease. She is dedicated to alleviating patients' frustrations when trying to navigate the maze of information, and to separate hope from hype, by providing reliable evidence-based information.

After fighting to improve the quality of her own life through exercise and other means, Jenifer began down a determined road and vowed to keep others from the same experience by changing the status quo for PD patients.

Since those earliest days of the organization, Summit accomplished something rarely done by a foundation. Summit successfully funded, promoted, and launched the autologous dopamine neuron replacement therapy into the private sector to hasten its progress from bench to bedside. The developing therapy is now in the hands of Aspen Neuroscience, and Summit, one of its co-founders, monitors and provides information on the cell therapy's progression. The highly anticipated cell therapy has completed Phase 1/2a of clinical trials and is preparing for Phase 2.

Amongst the accomplishments achieved, highlights include:

• Spoke before the FDA as one of five representatives for PD in support of iPSC-based regenerative medicine as a treatment option.
• Opened the Summit Lab to support Jeanne Loring, Ph.D.’s research.
• Co-founded the 5-organization collaborative research project known as“Stem Cells in Space”.
• A patient advocate for Parkinson’s disease.
• An Ambassador for The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) as a Parkinson’s disease advocate.
• Developed a strong educational program with Jeanne Loring, Ph.D. as chair.
• A patient advocate for Parkinson’s disease and speaker for CIRM’s Bridges program. (A program connecting advocates with college students interested in a career in stem cell/regenerative medicine fields.)

Jenifer is excited to be working on Summit's next big projects, including building out more programming for patients with PD, and using her knowledge of living with PD to develop plans to help patients in numerous ways. She is especially excited about Summit's latest project, The Center for Parkinson's Well-being. She encourages anyone and everyone to donate in support of this new and highly needed Summit endeavor.