Ali will be the featured speaker at Knock Out Parkinson’s Disease, a special event at the Muhammad Ali Center, Friday, June 9, organized to raise awareness of the disease and the most advanced treatments available.

The event begins at 5 p.m. Following Ali’s talk and a buffet dinner, medical experts in Parkinson’s disease from University of Louisville Physicians will discuss the treatment and management of Parkinson’s disease.

“We want to make sure everyone with Parkinson’s disease has access to the best treatments available,” said Kathrin LaFaver, MD, director of the UofL Physicians Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center and Raymond Lee Lebby Chair for Parkinson’s Disease Research in the UofL School of Medicine. “We are dedicated to helping each Parkinson’s patient achieve the best quality of life regardless of race or socioeconomic status.”

Knock Out Parkinson’s Disease is a kickoff event for Louisville’s first , to take place on Saturday, June 10 at Waterfront Park. Moving Day is sponsored by the National Parkinson Foundation to engage the community in the fight against Parkinson’s disease. It will feature a family friendly walk course, a kids’ area, a caregivers’ relaxation tent and a Movement Pavilion featuring yoga, dance, Tai Chi, Pilates, and other activities, all proven to help manage the symptoms of PD.

Knock Out Parkinson’s Disease 2017 also is part of the , a six-week series of events commemorating Muhammad Ali’s six core principles. I Am Ali runs June 3 through July 15.

There is no cost to attend Knock Out Parkinson’s Disease, but reservations are required. Register and .��

This annual celebration of cancer survivorship kicks off at 3:30 p.m. at the Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research Building, 505 S. Hancock St.

The party will be emceed by Miss America 2000 and Miss Louisville and Miss Kentucky 1999 Heather French Henry and feature musical entertainment, food and a tribute to all survivors of cancer and their caregivers. An added component this year will be a Salute to Veterans of the Armed Forces.

Following the party, survivors wishing to attend the 2017 Pegasus Parade will be escorted to special seating on East Broadway to view the parade.

This year’s theme is theme is “Party for the Pegasus Parade.” 

Below is a preview of the parade: 

They started seeing patients in June at the UofL Physicians Health Care Outpatient Center.

“I’m very excited about returning to the university,” said Connie. “We went to medical school here, and we’ve been practicing in Louisville since. We toured the medical school during a class reunion, and it brought back great memories. We’ve been talking about doing this for a number of years.”

Chris said their return to the university “allows us to maintain our focus on patient care while giving something back to the community.” He said he enjoys teaching young doctors, “and hopefully some of them will stay in this community.”

For he and Connie, patient care is paramount. “It’s more about quality rather than the number of patients you see,” said Connie. “I think doctors need to be able to spend adequate time with their patients. It allows us to educate them about cardiac issues. We also want to teach students to always put the patient first.”

Chris said their goal is to be available and responsive to  patients’ needs.

“We’re going to have multiple offices in different areas to accommodate them,” he said.

In addition to downtown at the UofL Physicians Health Care Outpatient Center, they will be seeing patients at offices in eastern Jefferson County (Jewish East and Jewish Northeast) and in Hillview in Bullitt County, where they have practiced in the past. They will also see patients at Jewish Hospital downtown.

“If a patient needs to be seen, we will see them when the referring doctor wants them seen,” Chris said.

Chris focuses on interventional cardiology and Connie on non-invasive cardiology, and both are passionate about preventive care, guiding patients on how to achieve health goals and do the little things to prevent big problems with their hearts later.

“An ounce of prevention can go a long way,” Connie said. “You would much rather see me before an event occurs, rather than after. I do my best to educate my patients.”

She said the combination of heart disease and stroke is the leading cause of death in Kentucky, and better education and prevention is needed.

“We have a long way to go in respect to prevention in Kentucky,” she said. “It’s about getting people to want to change their lifestyle. Preventive care can improve the quantity and quality of life.”

Medicine in the family

After meeting as students at the UofL School of Medicine, Chris and Connie double matched for their residencies in internal medicine at Wake Forest and for fellowships in cardiovascular disease at Emory.

After their training was finished in 1990, they returned to Louisville. For them, it was returning home. But after 25 years in private practice together, they felt it was time to return to UofL.

“We received our medical education from UofL, and raised our children in this community,” Chris said.

All three of the Anggelis’ children are in health care: Their son, Nick, just finished dental school at UofL; one daughter, Lauren, is in the doctoral program for clinical neuropsychology at UofL; and another daughter, Emily, is in medical school at the University of Kentucky.

“We love our state and it is so nice to be back at UofL, where it all began for us,” said Connie.