Newswise — The Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) Board of Directors is pleased to announce a partnership with B*CURED, a non-profit organization based in Greenwich, Conn., whose mission is to end brain cancer.
B*CURED was founded in 2008 by Melissa Salamé and Debbie Needle after each lost a parent to brain cancer. The organization’s primary goal is to help find a cure for brain cancer through research grants. To date, B*CURED has awarded fourteen grants to investigators searching for a cure for brain cancer at nationally ranked universities and hospitals, and has raised over $1,500,000 to date. All money raised goes directly to brain cancer research.
“The missions of B*CURED and the NREF are aligned with respect to funding brain cancer research, and the NREF is uniquely positioned to enhance B*CURED’s research funding efforts by expanding its access to high quality research proposals,” says NREF Chair Jon H. Robertson, MD, FAANS. Each year, the NREF receives, on average, 70-80 requests for research grants related to brain tumors and brain cancer. This year, the organizations jointly offered a B*CURED-NREF Research Grant of $50,000, funded by B*CURED, for adult or pediatric brain cancer research. Applications from junior and senior investigators were considered. “On behalf of our organizations, we are delighted to announce the inaugural recipient of the B*CURED- NREF Research Grant is Dr. Jamie Purzner, who will be conducting research medulloblastoma (MB), the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor,” says Karena Bullock Bailey, Co-President of B*CURED. Dr. Purzner is a resident in the University of Toronto training program for Neurosurgery and pursuing a PhD in Developmental Biology at Stanford University.“Presenting this award to Dr. Purzner represents the first time B*CURED will be funding research in pediatric cancer, an area that is important to our organization and the donor community. In addition, it allows us to support and train a young brain cancer researcher,” says Kristin Balderston Duda, Co-President of B*CURED.
About B*CURED B*CURED’s mission is to end brain cancer by funding innovative research grants. To date, B*CURED has awarded 14 grants to investigators searching for a cure for brain cancer at nationally ranked universities and hospitals. B*CURED is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization, founded in 2008 by Debbie Needle and Melissa Salamé. B*CURED is run by co-presidents, Karena Bailey and Kristin Duda. All money raised goes directly to brain cancer research. For more information about B*CURED, visit www.bcured.org.
About the NREFThe Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization created in 1980 by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) to support research and education efforts that enhance and confirm the critical role neurosurgeons play in improving lives.The NREF is dedicated to providing education to neurosurgeons at all stages of their careers, as well as funding research into new and existing neurosurgical treatments, in order to identify links between best practices and improved outcomes in patient care. Through voluntary public donations, corporate support, and donations from allied groups, the NREF supports endeavors that impact the lives of those suffering from epilepsy, stroke, brain tumors, spinal disorders, sports-related head injuries, lower back pain and Parkinson’s disease. For more information about NREF, please visit www.nref.org.
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