Harpoon President and Co-Founder Dan Kenary lost
his 50-year old brother Jim to a brain tumor early in 2007. Jim had been a
serious athlete his entire life. Jim's inspiring battle against his brain tumor
was aided by the wonderful people and the world-renowned research at the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dan has established a fund through The Friends
for Brain Tumor Research in Jim's honor. Dan and his family thank you for
your support.
Unfortunately, brain cancer has recently touched
the lives of the Team Psycho Family as well. On October 9th, after a 2
1/2yr battle with brain cancer, Team Psycho's Robert (Duffy) and Maggie Duffy,
lost their 15 year old son, Robert, Jr. in the race of all races. This
year, we honor his memory along with Jim Kenary’s as another call to action in
the fight against this devastating disease.
The Harpoon Brewery to Brewery Ride makes 100
extra charity spots available in the sold out event to serve as the Jim Kenary
Fund’s major fundraiser every year.
This year’s donation will double from year’s past and aid in the
incredible research ongoing with Dr. Patrick Wen at the Center for
Neuro-Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Wen recently sent us a note
about the exciting research he and his staff are conducting.
“We are living through one of the most remarkable scientific
revolutions in history. Advances in genomics and other technologies offer
investigators unprecedented opportunities to understand fully the genetic
mutations that cause cancer. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, because of its
unique 50-50 balance of research and clinical care, is in the optimal position
to make the next scientific breakthroughs. This powerful integration of
research and care fuels the translation of laboratory discoveries into clinical
applications for patients.
Although primary brain tumors are relatively uncommon, the disease
affects over 50,000 people each year in the United States. Almost half of these
tumors are malignant gliomas and thus - for all practical purposes -
incurable. Brain cancers present a challenge unique to cancer medicine �"
namely the blood/brain barrier. Many cancer medicines that are effective
on other tumors fail on primary cancers of the brain because they are unable to
penetrate into the brain. A major effort is underway to identify the
subset of drugs developed for other tumors that might prove effective on brain
cancers.
The Center for
Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber has developed a comprehensive program for brain
cancer research with the overarching goal of improving the outcome for
patients. The program focuses on optimizing existing therapies,
anti-angiogenic therapies, new drug development, glioblastoma stem cells, and
personalized trials and therapies. There is a pressing need for resources
for the Neuro-oncology Program at Dana-Farber now more than ever before.
Federal funding mechanisms are very conservative by design and the most
difficult funding to secure is that which is used to support this type of
innovative work. Therefore, philanthropy will play a major role in
driving this research forward and in leveraging new dollars.
Dana-Farber investigators
are poised to make the next breakthroughs in brain tumor research and
care. Your generous gift will enable them to launch a comprehensive
approach to further understand the challenges associated with brain cancer in
the hope of advancing a new standard of care for patients with brain tumors �"
one that is more personalized and more effective.”
Patrick Y. Wen M.D.
Director
Center For Neuro-Oncology
Dana Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center
SW430D
44 Binney Street
Boston, MA 02115
The Kenary family thanks you for your support.
