“Both Sides Now” Author to Speak at Thursday Morning Club’s Wise Wonderful Women Lecture and Luncheon Series

Alice Lazzarini, Ph.D. will present a fascinating and informative lecture about her journey from researcher of Parkinson disease to actually being a patient. This presentation is part of the Wise Wonderful Women Lecture and Luncheon Series of the Thursday Morning Club of Madison. Using her skill as a counselor, as well as adding her humor and respect with which she naturally connects to people, Dr. Lazzarini will share her unique story. Her memoir,” Both Sides Now” tells of her journey from a sheltered childhood to a successful career in a male-dominated world.

While raising a son and daughter, now adult professionals, Dr. Lazzarini earned an MS in genetic counselor at Rutgers University, followed by a Ph.D at the age of fifty-six. She has had a long career practicing genetic counseling, coordinating a statewide program for Huntington disease families, research in neurogenetic disorders as well as developing clinical trials for Parkinson disease drugs. She has also been recognized for her research in the genetics of restless leg syndrome and ataxia. In 1994, she published a paper on the genetics of Parkinson’s disease that helped to turn the tide of thinking within the neurology community toward accepting a genetic component to the cause of this disease. Finding herself diagnosed with the very disease for which she helped find a causative gene, she now experiences the race toward the development of new treatments with an additional sense of urgency.

The lecture and luncheon will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2017, 11:30 AM at the Madison Community House, 25 Cook Avenue. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the Madison Community House at 973-377-0244 or by visiting the TMC website at TMCMCH.org. Admission for the combined event is $35.—and is payable using a credit card, cash or check. Checks should be made payable to TMC with a notation referencing Wise Wonderful Women.

The Thursday Morning Club, which owns and operates the Madison Community House, is a philanthropic organization which is a member of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.