The Czech family continued their crusade to develop a cure for pediatric brain tumors by donating $1 million from The Mikey Czech Foundation Inc., New Canaan, Conn., to the Department of Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Boston.
The gift will fund further research into diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, an extremely rare and deadly childhood brain cancer for which there are no known treatments, said a joint news release from Dana-Farber and the foundation.
The foundation was established in memory of James Michael “Mikey” Czech who died in 2008 at the age of 11, a victim of DIPG.
The Mikey Czech Foundation's latest gift enables Dana-Farber's team to “continue to conduct research to define the underlying molecular changes in DIPG that have previously made these tumors so resistant to therapy” and to develop effective therapies for each DIPG aberration, said Dr. Mark W. Kieran, director of DF/HCC's pediatric neuro-oncology unit, in the news release.
The foundation intends to remain “the sustainable funding source” for Dr. Kieran's research team, Stephen J. Czech said in the release.
Mr. Czech is managing partner and chief investment officer of direct lending specialist Czech Asset Management LP, Greenwich, Conn., which manages about $4.3 billion for institutional investors. Mr. Czech, the father of Mikey, donates a percentage of his personal income to DIPG research through the Mikey foundation.
Donations to fight DIPG may be made via The Mikey Czech Foundation website. The size of the fund could not be learned.
