Sunflower Rev It Up for Parkinson’s is Sept. 10

Two couples focus on living and making a difference

When Steve Hammoor and Mark Wilmers get together there are a lot of smiles and laughter. At a recent lunch, Mark shared stories of a trip to France, and Steve recounted a daughter’s wedding.

This tight friendship extends to their wives, Becky Hammoor and Juli Wilmers. The couples met through their fundraising efforts for Sunflower Rev It Up for Parkinson’s, a walk and bike ride raising funds for the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute’s James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders.

four people

The Hammoors and Wilmers met through Rev It Up for Parkinson's.

Steve and Mark point out that their friendship, while based on a mutual understanding, is also about savoring life.

“It’s not all death and misery,” Steve says of his diagnosis. “It’s living.”

“When you share a diagnosis, you understand each other,” adds Mark.

The Hammoors and the Wilmers have collectively raised $500,000 for Parkinson’s research and education through their teams, Cool Beans and Hamm and Wilmer’s Warriors. They are joining forces this year at the Research for Parkinson’s fundraiser powered by “Cool Beans and Hamm” and “Wilmer’s Warriors” at the Silver Spring House, 8322 E. Kemper Road, 2-4 p.m., Aug. 27. Proceeds will benefit the UC Gardner Neuroscience Center.

Becky Hammoor says not only has the Sunflower community provided them with lifelong friends – they know their fundraising efforts drive advances in research and care. 

Past projects that Rev It Up for Parkinson’s have helped fund include:

  • Treating orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson’s disease.
  • Understanding the genetics of Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.
  • Understanding and treating depression and apathy in Parkinson’s and harnessing the power of the placebo effect.
  • Studying the effects of cholesterol-lowering agents on Parkinson’s disease.
  • Research into alpha synuclein solubility and how that can translate into possible disease-modifying therapies.

Learn more, donate or register for Sunflower Rev It Up for Parkinson’s at Sunflower-revitup.org.

Featured image at top: Steve Hammoor and Mark Wilmers. Photo/Provided. 

Next, Now

With its focus on innovation and impact, Next, Now: The Campaign for Cincinnati is where ambition meets action. At the University of Cincinnati and UC Health, we’re driven by next; thinking bolder and dreaming bigger to create the tomorrow we envision, today. Learn more at nextnow.uc.edu.

Related Stories

1

Sugar overload killing hearts

November 10, 2025

Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.

2

App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease

November 10, 2025

An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.