Foundation Gives Duke $2M
For Brain Tumor Research

DUKE Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a $2 million commitment from the Rory David Deutsch Foundation of Highland Park, Ill., to establish an endowment for pediatric brain tumor research, Duke President Nannerl Keohane announced March 22. "The Deutsch family and the foundation that honors Rory David Deutsch have made a very important contribution to the research that will allow medical science to deal more effectively with this condition," Keohane said. "It is a gift that will make life better for many, and we are indeed grateful for it." The Deutsch Foundation was established by family members and friends of 7-year-old Rory David Deutsch, who died of a brain stem glioma in 1998. The foundation is dedicated to supporting advances in pediatric brain tumor research. The Rory David Deutsch Memorial Endowment for Pediatric Glioma Research will fulfill a critical need to research the causes of pediatric brain tumors and find new treatments, said Ralph Snyderman, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of the Duke University Health System. "Researchers in the Medical Center have made significant progress in extending the length and quality of life for children with this devastating disease," he said. "This gift will go far toward their efforts to find a cure." Darell Bigner, the Edwin L. Jones Jr. and Lucille Finch Jones Cancer Research Professor of Pathology, said the gift would support genomics research underway at the Duke Brain Tumor Center. "The Deutsch family's generosity will faster collaboration with Duke's new genome institute and help our investigators identify new targets for brain tumor therapies," said Bigner, who also serves as deputy director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Brain Tumor Center at Duke is one of three brain tumor research programs recognized by NIH. Duke University Medical Center is one of 10 medical centers involved in the NCI Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium.