When Paul Ruby of Geneva was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s two years ago, treating the symptoms of the disease took a back seat to his No. 1 goal: Finding a cure.

“It didn’t seem important to worry about the symptoms at the time,” he said. “They weren’t to a point where I couldn’t function.

“I was like a lot of patients, where nothing else matters but finding a cure. It’s the only thing I cared about.”

But as the disease wore on and the symptoms worsened, Ruby sought treatment.

“When I got on medication, my quality of life did get better,” he said. “I could swing a golf club again.”

His mindset also changed.

While finding a cure still is important to Ruby, finding treatments for the symptoms now is equally as important.

Last week, Ruby and other members of the Paul Ruby Foundation for Parkinson’s Research decided to donate $50,000 to Northwestern University for a yearlong project that will study sleep dysfunction in Parkinson’s patients in the hopes of finding treatments.

About 90 percent of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease are affected by sleep disturbances, said Aleksandar Videnovic, Ruby’s doctor. Research has shown that sleep dysfunction could precede the onset of Parkinson’s by many years.

Videnovic, also an assistant professor at Northwestern whose research is focused on sleep dysfunction in movement disorders, plans to lead a team in research of the functioning of the biological clock in patients with Parkinson’s disease in the hopes of developing treatments.

Foundation members are excited about partnering with Northwestern’s Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center.

“If you’re able to capture (things) early on in diagnosing, you might be able to treat the onset of Parkinson’s way before it appears,” said foundation member Pete Lindenmeyer.

“This is an exciting thing to be writing the check for,” agreed fellow foundation member Joe Stanton. “This is a slam-dunk decision for us.”

Last year’s Paul Ruby Foundation Golf Outing and Concert for a Cure raised more than $70,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Ruby and his wife, Linda, were the guests of honor at the second annual Michael J. Fox Most Valuable People Awards dinner in New York City in May for hosting the country’s largest fundraiser in 2007 for Team Fox, the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s community-fundraising program.

Before making the decision of where to donate this year’s funds raised from the concert and golf outing, Ruby Foundation members were invited to visit Dr. John Kessler’s stem-cell research lab at Northwestern Hospital and learn about some of the clinical research projects going on at the facility. Kessler is director of Northwestern’s Stem Cell Institute and the Feinberg Clinical Neuroscience Institute.

He believes stem-cell research could help cure spinal cord injuries and treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s.

Kessler said the controversy surrounding stem-cell research is slowing its progress in the United States.

“It’s the most exciting area of medical research, yet a lot of the best young minds are being dissuaded from going into this field,” he said.

Kessler said federal funding is essential to stem-cell research in the United States. He continues to urge people to write to their congressman.

“Some people aren’t going to listen, but a lot of people do listen,” he said.

Foundation members are excited about forging a relationship with Northwestern University.

“It’s truly rewarding being connected at this level with the scientists and doctors,” Ruby said.