Advancing a Cure

Leonard Howell

Bryan Meltz

Growing up on a farm in Cuthbert, Georgia, Viola Castleberry learned simple but important lessons: Be honest, work hard, and be responsible. And so she took responsibility for her younger brother, Bill, who has a learning disability.

Now Bill is in his eighties and afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, and Castleberry is sharing responsibility for advancing a cure. Her bequest to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center will support the work of researchers such as Yerkes neuropharmacologist Leonard Howell and Yerkes neurologist Yoland Smith as they work to unravel the connection between dopamine and the movement disorders found in Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.