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The Focused Ultrasound Foundation and National Brain Tumor Society are sponsoring a joint webinar on sonodynamic therapy (SDT) for brain tumors. SDT is an emerging, noninvasive cancer treatment using focused ultrasound to activate agents that selectively accumulate in tumor cells and cause cell death. This webinar will review the current state of the field for SDT, including an overview of preclinical laboratory findings and current clinical trials. Please join us Wednesday, October 11, to hear from Francesco Prada, MD, and Vijay Agarwal, MD, two neurosurgery experts taking sonodynamic therapy research from the bench to bedside. WEBINAR Sonodynamic Therapy for Brain Tumors: From Bench to Bedside Wednesday, October 11, 202311:00 am Eastern Register Now Moderator Kirk Tanner, PhDChief Scientific Officer (CSO)National Brain Tumor Society Senior Vice PresidentBrain Tumor Investment Fund Kirk Tanner, PhD, is an oncology research leader with two decades of experience in discovery and development projects and programs resulting in multiple clinical candidate therapies and investigational new drugs. Formerly, he was the research oncology disease area expert and senior director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. As CSO, Dr. Tanner leads the National Brain Tumor Society’s research program, which aims to catalyze treatment development through philanthropic investment in medical research and to engage scientists, clinicians, patients, and care partners in research programs. He serves as the Chair of the Glioblastoma Drug Development Summit, the only devoted meeting for large pharma, biotech, and pioneering academics working to unite all stakeholders under a mutual and ambitious objective of accelerating the practical discovery, translation, and clinical development of safe, effective and deliverable therapies to treat glioblastoma. Dr. Tanner received his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and did postdoctoral training at Oregon Health Sciences University. Speakers Vijay Agarwal, MDFounder, President and CEOAlpheusmedical Vijay Agarwal, MD, has founded or co-founded multiple companies and has raised tens of millions in funding. He is a tri-fellowship trained brain tumor surgeon and is a pioneer in complex brain tumor surgery. Dr. Agarwal has published extensively, including three textbooks based on his innovative work. He earned a BS from UCLA in electrical engineering with a biomedical engineering specialization. After medical school, he completed his neurosurgery residency at Duke University Medical Center, one of the most renowned brain tumor centers in the world. Dr. Agarwal has devoted his life to improving the lives of patients with brain cancer and has over 20 years in the medical device/biotechnology industry. Suzanne LeBlang, MDDirector of Clinical RelationshipsFocused Ultrasound Foundation With her prior clinical experience as a neuroradiologist and having performed hundreds of focused ultrasound procedures since 2004, Suzanne LeBlang, MD, now represents the Foundation by interacting with researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers to foster collaborations. She interfaces with the medical community at various meetings in order to update the Foundation staff. In coordination with the communications team, she helps increase awareness through oral presentations and articles. She also assists the Chairman and the development team with building relationships with individuals, other foundations, and non-profits. She has published papers and delivered numerous scientific talks in the field of focused ultrasound. Dr. LeBlang received her BA in Biology and MD degree from the University of Miami six-year Honors Program in Medical Education and completed her radiology residency and neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital. Lauren Powlovich, MD, MBAAssociate Chief Medical OfficerFocused Ultrasound Foundation Lauren Powlovich, MD, MBA, joined the Foundation in March 2019 and serves as Associate Chief Medical Officer. She brings together key stakeholders and synthesizes and executes cohesive plans to lead initiatives in the advancement of focused ultrasound for several applications including glioblastoma, pediatrics, pain management, and sonodynamic therapy. She fosters education by creating and maintaining the Foundation’s comprehensive overview documents that outline the state of the field for a variety of relevant indications. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Powlovich trained as an anesthesiologist, and she has always been passionate about putting patients first. She continues to have that mindset and works hard to ensure that focused ultrasound reaches patients safely and efficiently. Francesco Prada, MDNeurosurgeonDirector, Acoustic Neuroimaging and Therapy LaboratoryIstituto Neurologico Carlo Besta Francesco Prada, MD, is the staff neurosurgeon for the Department of Neurosurgery at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico C.Besta in Milan, Italy, where he conducts clinical practice, mainly focusing in skull base/pituitary surgery and neuro-oncology, and research, studying intra-operative applications of ultrasound for the treatment of cerebral and spinal tumor and vascular lesions and advanced ultrasound techniques such as Fusion Imaging for Virtual Navigation, contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and elastosonography. He is also a former Focused Ultrasound Foundation fellow and serves as an advisor to the Foundation’s Brain Program.

September 26, 2023, Charlottesville, Virginia— The Focused Ultrasound Foundation and St. Baldrick’s Foundation today announced their co-funding partnership in the fight against childhood cancer with a joint $115,000 pledge to support treatment research for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), also called diffuse midline glioma (DMG). DIPG/DMG is an aggressive type of cancer that forms in the brainstem of children; there is currently no cure for DIPG/DMG, and the average life expectancy after diagnosis is roughly one year. The partnership will fund the St. Baldrick’s Scholar Award bestowed to Dr. Cheng-Chia Wu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at Columbia University. Dr. Wu is currently leading preclinical trials using novel approaches such as noninvasive focused ultrasound technology to treat DIPG/DMG. As a St. Baldrick’s Scholar, Dr. Wu will launch a new study to investigate whether focused ultrasound can enhance delivery of a chemotherapy drug (Etoposide) in a DIPG/DMG animal model, and whether radiation can enhance this effect. This research will ideally lead to more well-designed clinical trials and eventually clinical treatments for DIPG/DMG patients. Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving technology using sound waves to target tissue deep in the brain without incisions or radiation. Although radiotherapy is the current standard of care for children with DIPG/DMG, there is an abundance of work in the field to explore more effective therapies, including focused ultrasound. “We are grateful to be working alongside St. Baldrick’s to move the needle on finding a cure for this deadly disease,” said Neal Kassell, MD, former neurosurgeon and founder of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. “Focused ultrasound is one of the first promising medical breakthroughs in treating DIPG/DMG in decades. We are eager to learn the findings of this ground-breaking research so that more lives can be saved.” “Together, the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and St. Baldrick’s Foundation are pioneering a new era in the fight against DIPG/DMG, bringing hope and progress to a difficult battle,” said Kathleen Ruddy, St. Baldrick’s Foundation CEO. “This partnership signifies significant progress in DIPG/DMG treatment, and we are looking forward to its potential life-saving impact.” The trial is in its preclinical phase and will launch soon. Dr. Wu will be conducting the study over the course of four years. About the Focused Ultrasound FoundationThe Focused Ultrasound Foundation was created to improve the lives of millions of people worldwide by accelerating the development of this noninvasive technology. The Foundation works to clear the path to global adoption by organizing and funding research, fostering collaboration, and building awareness among patients and professionals. Since its establishment in 2006, the Foundation has become the largest nongovernmental source of funding for focused ultrasound research. About St. Baldrick’s FoundationEvery 2 minutes, a child somewhere in the world is diagnosed with cancer. In the U.S., 1 in 5 will not survive. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest charity funder of childhood cancer research grants, is on a mission to Conquer Kids’ Cancer by supporting the most promising research to find cures and better treatments for all childhood cancers. When you give to St. Baldrick’s, you don’t just give to one hospital – you support virtually every institution with the expertise to treat kids with cancer across the U.S. St. Baldrick’s ensures that children fighting cancer now — and those diagnosed in the future — will have access to the most cutting-edge treatment, by supporting every stage of research, from new ideas in the lab to the training of the next generation of researchers, to lifesaving clinical trials. Visit StBaldricks.org and help #ConquerKidsCancer. Media Contact Allison Preston Smithapreston-smith@fusfoundation.org

In this article from the Washington Post, 6-year-old Callie is the first to participate in a clinical trial using focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier in an effort to treat diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, a fatal childhood cancer.

My project involved researching how generative AI can be used at the Foundation for administrative and technical purposes.