Honorees include philanthropist Carol Harrison Kalagher, NIH Director Francis S. Collins,
and NF Ambassador McKinnon Galloway
Festivities to take place at the renowned American Museum of Natural History in NYC
On Monday, October 22, 2018, the NF patient community, joined by leading businesses, philanthropists and civic leaders, will come together at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City to celebrate 40 years of the founding of the Children’s Tumor Foundation. The ‘Ruby Anniversary’ Gala will raise funds to support research into neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body and affects 1 in 3,000 births of all populations. There is currently no cure.
An evening of inspiration and celebration, the Foundation will present Humanitarian Awards to:
Carol Harrison Kalagher, philanthropist, benefactor of Synodos for NF2, and NF advocate. Inspired by her grandson Hunter, and focused on helping all who live with NF, Ms. Kalagher’s vision in providing funding for the Foundation’s Synodos for NF2 team science / open data initiatives has resulted in promising candidates for treatments of NF2 (which affects 1 in 25,000 people).
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Collins is a renowned physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes – including the NF gene – and for his leadership of the Human Genome Project.
The Ruby Anniversary Gala will also introduce and honor the Foundation’s 2019 NF Ambassador, McKinnon Galloway. McKinnon is a passionate believer in raising both awareness of NF as well as funds for NF research, and has inspired the NF community – volunteers, fundraisers, and researchers alike – with her dedication to the NF cause. The Gala will serve as a backdrop in telling her remarkable and courageous NF story.
The Ruby Anniversary Gala will also pay homage to the origins of the Children’s Tumor Foundation. Forty years ago, a small group of committed individuals joined together to build an organization dedicated to the search for treatments and a cure for a then-little-known disorder called neurofibromatosis, or NF. That group – an NF patient named Lynne Ann Courtemanche, her physician Allan Rubenstein, and the attorney Joel Hirschtritt, established the National Neurofibromatosis Foundation, now known as the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF). During it forty-year history, CTF has served as a beacon of hope for NF patients and caregivers, guiding NF clinical care and driving NF research to a place of tremendous progress. Thanks to these pioneers, and the thousands of patients, researchers, clinicians, donors, fundraisers, volunteers, and many more, the NF community today stands at the precipice of the first potential FDA-approved drug to treat NF.
To learn more about the Ruby Anniversary Gala and to purchase tickets or make a donation, please visit ctf.org/nygala.
To download the Ruby Anniversary Gala invitation, click here.
For more information about the Children’s Tumor Foundation, please visit ctf.org.
