Friends and Family,

I will be running the New York City Marathon on November 5th in memory of my friend Elizabeth (Liz) Minter, who passed away at 21 from a rare, inoperable brain tumor. My goal is to raise $10,000 for Elizabeth’s Hope, the charity organization she founded with her neurosurgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield. The charity was the genesis for and now falls under the umbrella of the Children’s Brain Tumor Project (CBTP) at Weill Cornell Pediatric Brain and Spine Center in NYC, run by Dr. Greenfield and his partner, Dr. Souweidane.

The money raised will go to a lab at Weill Cornell, full of neuroscience researchers whose goal is to bring hope to the hundreds of patients and families each year forced to confront the diagnoses of rare and inoperable pediatric brain tumors.

I ask that you take a few moments to read the below – some facts about pediatric and adolescent brain cancer and why I believe in this cause and organization so much.

After reading, please consider making a donation – any amount will help (and below I’ve outlined where your $$s will go ☺)

These cancers are rare and therefore not frequently discussed. Currently, some of these cancers have a very small percentage of survival, and some have a zero percent chance of survival. If your child, niece, nephew, grandchild, family friend, etc. were diagnosed today or in the near future, they’d face these devastating percentages. Look at this as an investment in the future.

Donations to help make advancements today will give families and children more hope and a greater chance of survival in the future.

Thank you for your support,
Mara

 
Pediatric and adolescent brain tumor facts:
• It is estimated that 7 children die per day due to brain tumors
• The average age at diagnoses is 6 years old
• When a child dies of cancer, it represents an average of 71 years of lost life
• For rare and inoperable brain tumors, there has been no significant increase in survival rates in decades. For many of these tumors, there is no survival rate at all
• Pediatric brain cancer is the leading cause of disease deaths among those under 19
• In 2016, it was projected that more than 4,300 children will be diagnosed with a primary brain tumor (equivalent of 12 new diagnoses every day)
• Only 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s research funding goes to pediatric cancer – and that’s all children’s cancers. Only a fraction of that 4% goes to brain cancer research

What the CBTP does (note, this is just some, not all):
• Dedicated lab at Weill Cornell with some of the best neuroscience researchers using state of the art technology to find cures for rare and inoperable pediatric brain tumors
o Preeminent lab that has made major advancements in Gliomatosis Cerebri and DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma)
• The team has a multi-pronged approach to the research, which when combined, results in individualized treatment plans for each patient, as no cancer is the same:
o Genomic sequencing
o Alternative delivery methods
o Basic science research
o Immune-oncology
• Clinical trials
• Legacy Tissue Donation Program
o Looks at malignant brain tissue on a cellular, molecular, and genetic level to better understand tumors and may lead to more effective patient-tailored therapies
• Is a leader in the annual international Gliomatosis Cerebri Conference, which also is funded privately by families

Donations to Elizabeth’s Hope, and thus the CBTP, goes towards all things happening in/outside of the lab, such as:
• General maintenance and upkeep of the lab – rent, management, cleaning, etc.
• Lab equipment
• Compensation for lab staff
• Clinical trials