Our Vision:

Every person affected by PD is connected to the information, resources, and allies they need to thrive.

Our Purpose:
We are dedicated to empowering individuals affected by PD by providing knowledge and fostering relationships that enhance their quality of life. We aim to cultivate a supportive community and bridge information gaps.

Our Objectives:

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Cultivate Relationships and Community
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Serve as a Conduit to Pertinent Resources
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Disseminate Information

Our Board

Kevin
Kevin Hylton, President
Working for a better quality of life for people with PD became a passion after my wife, Yvonne, was diagnosed at the age of 44. Aside from being her life partner, there wasn’t anything I could do to ease her burden. But I soon realized I could make a world of difference in the lives of others by sharing what I had learned about PD and applying my technical and business skills in a new way. When you see the light in someone’s eyes brighten because of something you’ve said or done, there’s no better feeling; and I get that feeling every day with RPN.
Dave
Dave Henning, Treasurer
Dave Henning serves as the treasurer for the organization. He brings previous experience as a treasurer for a different not for profit organization, and his background includes working in the Treasury department at Kodak, and serving as the Assistant Controller for a small start up company. His involvement with the Parkinson’s community started in support of his brother-in-law and he has been a long time volunteer at various Parkinson’s sponsored events.
Michelle
Michelle Burack, Secretary
I am a movement disorders neurologist who understands that the impact of Parkinson Disease extends far beyond a person’s brain. I have been actively involved in community education and support programming for people with PD since moving to Rochester with my family in 2007. After a decade of academic clinical practice, research, and teaching at the University of Rochester, I shifted gears to make more room for conversations about what matters most. In addition to my work with the RPN board, I have a small private practice focused on counseling and education for people with PD and other progressive neurological diseases.
Yvonne
Yvonne Hylton
Yvonne Hylton has been a chemist, an environmental analyst, a spokesperson, a project manager, a health coach and a yoga instructor. Since 2007, she is a person with Parkinson disease. Advocacy and education around Parkinson’s disease are her commitments; learning is her passion.

In YVONNE'S KITCHEN, she discusses her philosophy of life, health, and love, and celebrates the community that was waiting after her diagnosis.
 
Dan
Dan Kinel
Dan Kinel is a retired lawyer. Since being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2013, he has also become deeply involved in patient advocacy and believes in the power of personal face-to-face connections in fighting PD. Over the course of his almost three decades as a corporate and securities lawyer, he represented numerous companies, from start-ups to NYSE-listed public companies, in corporate governance, corporate finance, securities compliance, and other business law matters.
Ron
Ronald B. Knight
Ron Knight is a retired, thirty-year executive of the Xerox Corporation. He was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease in 2014. His volunteer work in the community has been primarily focused on healthcare. He was Chairman of the Rochester Health Commission, a member of Park Ridge Hospital’s Board of Directors, and Vice Chairman of the F.F. Thompson Health System Board of Directors. He is a Trustee of the University of Rochester as well as a Past-Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of University’s Medical Center. Ron’s passion is the identification of challenges for people with PD and finding solutions, for not only people with PD but also their caregivers.
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Lindsay Perez
Lindsay is a Physical Therapist with over 20 years of experience, specializing in neurorehabilitation. In 2016 Lindsay created the Parkinson’s Wellness Program, which began with Physical Therapy and eventually grew to include Parkinson’s Disease-specific group exercise classes.  Lindsay spends her day working directly with people with PD to improve their movement abilities and quality of life. She believes access to high quality, individual care should be easily accessible for everyone living with PD.
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Jessie Preston
Jessie Preston is a medical speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with adults with neurological communication and cognitive disorders. After working in acute rehab and homecare settings for 15 years, Jessie joined the faculty at Nazareth University. Through an annual grant received from Parkinson Voice Project, Jessie began a program for individuals with Parkinson’s where graduate students are trained to provide speech therapy services in the university clinic. The program has grown to now include three weekly voice exercise groups as well as individual therapy services each semester. Jessie is passionate about helping individuals with Parkinson’s maintain their speech and voice, as well as connect to resources in their community.
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Pauline Rutberg
Pauline Rutberg is a CPA and is the controller at Cobblestone Capital Advisors, LLC.  She currently serves on the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester and has been an active volunteer and leader in several other organizations.  Pauline has family members with generalized dystonia and seeks to support movement disorder patients and caregivers in the greater Rochester community.
Ruth schneider
Ruth Schneider
Dr. Schneider is a board-certified neurologist with expertise in movement disorders. She graduated from Brown University and received her MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She completed her neurology residency and a movement disorders fellowship, both at the University of Rochester. She joined the faculty in 2015 and specializes in the care of patients with movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and essential tremor.
Dennis
Dennis Whitney
My wife, Louise Whitney, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1997 and passed away in 2022. Early in the progression of the disease we became active in the Parkinson’s Support Group of Upstate NY and the knowledge, support, sense of community that we found helped us manage our journey through the disease. There is a wealth of information and support available to people with PD and I want to make sure everyone who needs that connection is able to find what they need to manage their journey and to know they aren’t alone.