Honorees include James and Laurée Moffett, Corinne Moffett and Tena Rosser, MD
NEW YORK (October 27, 2015) – The Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) is pleased to announce that its premier annual event, the New York Gala, will be held on October 29, 2015, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Funds raised will support research into neurofibromatosis (NF), a genetic disorder that can cause tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body and affects one in 3,000 births. There is currently no cure.
An evening of inspiration and celebration, the Foundation will present its highest honor, the Children’s Humanitarian Award. This award was established in 2006 to acknowledge individuals who have had a positive impact on the lives of adults and children living with neurofibromatosis, and who share the Foundation’s mission to end NF through research.
This year, the Children’s Humanitarian Award will be given to James and Laurée Moffett in acknowledgment of their support of the Foundation. James, also known as Jim Bob, is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., a premier U.S.-based natural resource company. Noted civic leaders and philanthropists, their generous $2.5 million dollar matching gift funds Synodos for NF1, a unique consortium that brings together a multidisciplinary team of scientists from world-class labs at academic and medical centers. These scientists have pledged to work together and share unpublished information, datasets, and results, thereby accelerating the drug development process.
Tena Rosser, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology and Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), will be honored with a medical Children’s Humanitarian Award for her contributions in clinical patient care and commitment to supporting NF patients and their families Dr. Rosser has served on the CTF Clinical Care Advisory Board since 2005 and has been a co-chair of the Clinical Research Award Committee since 2010. She was also a co-chair of the NF Patient and Family Forum held in New Orleans in 2012. She is a strong supporter of her local Los Angeles Children’s Tumor Foundation chapter, organizing annual educational family symposiums and participating in many other CTF activities.
Corinne Moffett, daughter of Jim Bob and Laurée, will be honored as the 2016 Children’s Tumor Foundation Ambassador, an award bestowed upon an individual with NF to recognize their courage living the disorder, and their personal efforts to further Foundation goals of research, public awareness and patient support.
Corinne demonstrates great courage in dealing with obstacles that arise when living with NF and speaks about her disorder with an admirable openness, including speeches to sororities in the Austin area in hopes of having their chapter adopt CTF as one of their charities. Corinne is also active in Racing4Research, a unique Children’s Tumor Foundation program that provides patients and families living with NF a distinctively empowering at-track race experience, and has raised more than $3 million since its inception in 2008.
“We honor these individuals for their commitment to improving the well-being of NF families and their steadfastness to a vision of a world where NF is effectively treated, and one day cured,” said Annette Bakker, PhD, Children’s Tumor Foundation President and Chief Scientific Officer. “It’s the determination and resolve of Dr. Rosser and the Moffett family, combined with the marvelous example of our Ambassador Corinne Moffett, along with the perseverance and fortitude of the entire NF community, that will one day help us fulfill our mission to end NF.”
CBS News Medical Correspondent, Dr. Max Gomez, will serve as emcee of the Gala event, and the evening will feature dinner, dancing, and a live auction.
For more information about The New York Gala and the Children’s Tumor Foundation, please visit www.ctf.org.
