ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — In the spirit of March Madness, Pittsford is shining the spotlight on its own Mike Mooney. Mooney's career as a NCAA basketball referee was sidelined when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at 49. Five years after his diagnosis, he remains determined to help others battling the disease. "Basketball has been a big, big part of my life," Mooney said told News 8's Gio Battaglia Friday. That passion for the sport on full display when Mooney sat down for the interview wearing his NCAA quarter zip — as he was a NCAA and Section V High School basketball referee until 2020. "I was diagnosed at the end of 2020, but you know, leading up to that, it was misdiagnosis of essential tremors in 2017 and going back to 2010," Mooney said. "I've known for some time that things weren't quite right. But just couldn't pin down what it was." The final diagnosis: Parkinson's. As he has battled the disease for five years, he has remained committed to taking action instead of waiting for better treatments. "You can imagine the headset will generate stimulus to the finger," Mooney explained. Through the Apple Vision Pro headset, Mooney is spearheading the development of "Brain Storm," a sensory cross-training app with a goal of revolutionizing Parkinson's treatment through innovative technology. "The goal of technology is to, you know, generate this pulse information of the brain on a non-invasive basis with an early intervention in a way that will solve problems long term. It's not just symptomatic treating. So, we want something that can help reset that sensory function in the brain," Mooney said. Mooney said he has spent the past five years researching treatments, participating in clinical trials, advocating for Parkinson's patients and working with professionals at the University of Rochester Medical Center and RIT to develop a proof of the concept. Now, the search is on to find professional firms to help develop the app and integrate gloves that would be synced and coordinated. "The first part of it was working with the manufacturer just for the tactile stem to the fingers, you know, and eventually tried to improve it," Mooney said. The next part, raising the money to fund the final product. Mooney's family has started a fundraiser that will bring what they call "the solution" — to life. "We're just trying to, you know, put something together that if people want to support this directly, it's one program that I think, can make a difference," Mooney said. For more information on Brain Storm and how you can help, click here. ...read more read less