Story highlights Michael J. Fox and the CEO of Fox's foundation,Todd Sherer, remember Muhammad Ali

They say we should honor Ali's fortitude in fighting Parkinson's with a renewed commitment to research

Michael J. Fox and Todd Sherer, Ph.D., are the founder and the CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors.

(CNN) On Saturday morning, the world awoke to a reminder that even the most exalted of heroes does not win every fight.

There are stars, and then there are comets. Muhammad Ali was radiant; such a bright and fast light only rarely streaks across the sky. So it is odd to recollect that his incomparable athletic career ultimately played out in fewer years than the three decades he spent fighting Parkinson's disease.

Michael J. Fox

Todd Sherer

Countless people living with Parkinson's, including one of the authors of this piece, looked up to Ali as a role model of equanimity and fearlessness in the face of Parkinson's degeneration.

This incurable brain disease, second only to Alzheimer's in prevalence, slowly causes the dopamine neurons in the brain to sicken and die, affecting movement, diminishing voice and masking expression, among a host of other symptoms. Parkinson's affects each individual differently, but one thing every patient shares is the certainty that the disease will, from the moment of diagnosis, inexorably progress.

As the founder and the CEO of a foundation dedicated to Parkinson's research and therapeutic development, we have cast ourselves in the role of opponent to this status quo. We are determined to change how Parkinson's is diagnosed and treated, and to create a world in which Parkinson's finally can be cured — in memory of Ali (who was active with our foundation from its earliest days) and on behalf of the millions worldwide living with the disease today.