Commit to Fund Real Progress for Patients

-A Personal Plea from the BSF's Annual Campaign Chair

Dear Friends,

I am delighted to let you know that I have the honor of serving as the chair for the 2009 Annual Campaign for the Brain Science Foundation (BSF). The foundation supports cutting-edge brain tumor research, promising young investigators, and a one-of-a-kind center focused on meningioma at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). For several years, I have been involved as a board member for the BSF which was founded by my brother, Steven Haley, after his own experience with meningioma.

I never expected that I, too, would be a patient. This past summer, I received the shocking news that a tumor had been slowly growing in my brain for 10 years, maybe 20. My tumor was classified as (hemangioblastoma) a benign primary brain tumor, meaning it had originated in my brain and it was not cancerous. I was lucky. Surgeons were able to remove the entire tumor without any damage to my faculties. They do not expect it to return.

With my recovery nearly behind me, an enhanced perspective and fervor feeds my commitment to the BSF’s work to drive advances in the diagnosis, treatment, and ultimate cure of brain tumors. Our unique entrepreneurial model and supporting relationship to BWH (one of the nation’s top ten hospitals) has positioned the BSF to play a leading role in tomorrow’s treatments for brain tumors, and one day, a cure. 

Our collaborative approach has provided us with access to some of the world’s leading brain tumor experts and established global teams across medical institution in France, Japan, Turkey, Israel and Switzerland. Additionally, the BSF has facilitated international neuroscientific initiatives, such as the 6th International Meningioma Conference, held this past September, and the World Congress of Neurological Surgery, scheduled for August 2009.

One of our early projects, The Meningioma Consortium, has gone on to receive a $10 million grant from the National Institute of Health. As the largest multi-dimensional study to comprehensively examine the environmental, genetic, pathologic, and clinical variables associated with meningioma risk, The Meningioma Consortium comprises five population-based study sites in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and North Carolina as well as the San Francisco Bay Area and Harris County, Texas.

This project is just one of the more than 13 to which the BSF is channeling significant resources to sustain the degree of innovation that promises to lead to new surgical practices, treatments, and therapies for brain tumors and to improve the quality of life for patients. We have made great leaps during the past six years developing great momentum for the future. Helping to drive this momentum forward is why I agreed to serve as chair of this year’s Annual Campaign.

For the hundreds of thousands of people navigating a brain tumor diagnosis and thousands more who will be diagnosed this year, it is critical that we continue this progress in spite of cuts in government funding and the struggling economy. Philanthropy is more critical than ever to advancing our mission.

Our goal is to raise $500,000 by October 1, 2009—the end of the fiscal year. Please join me in making a contribution to this important campaign that will support the momentum necessary to advance the fight against meningioma and other primary brain tumors. I am pleased to say that 100% of donations go toward program funding. All BSF administration and funding costs are underwritten by a private family foundation.

If you contribute $250 or more, you will become a member of The Cerebral Society. By donating to the BSF at any level, you will receive regular updates on current research projects, clinical trials, advocacy, and volunteer opportunities, and upcoming events. Please click here to make an online donation.

Fondly,
Diane Coletti
BSF Board Member and 2009 Annual Campaign Chair