A visit with the Alan's Hero Fund St. Baldrick's Scholar

Four years ago, we established a Hero Fund with the St. Baldrick's Foundation in Alan's memory to raise money for sarcoma research. Last July we were thrilled to share that the fundraising we had done through Alan's Sarcoma Research Fund had given us the opportunity to name a grant. Dr. Nino Rainusso of Baylor College of Medicine at Texas Children's Hospital would be named the Alan’s Sarcoma Research Fund St. Baldrick’s Scholar for his work in identifying and examining the most difficult to treat cancer cells from patients at TCH.

Today, we had the opportunity to meet Dr. Rainusso and have a tour of his lab. The first stop was the outpatient clinic at TCH, where Dr. Rainusso takes care of the some of the patients who have contributed tumor samples to his study. When we got off the elevator, we saw one of the cows decorated in a star motif, which seemed like a sign to us as we were here to see the work being done in memory of our supernova. More on that topic later. As he showed us through the clinic it was obvious how passionate he was about the work. Because they are from his patients, the tumor samples are not anonymous cells to him, but represent real people and real connections.

Then it was on to Dr. Rainusso's lab at the Faris D. Virani Ewing Sarcoma Center, where he works with other sarcoma researchers. We were very impressed by the collaborative spirit there. One of the rooms he showed us housed the incubator which grows the cells that he has identified and separated for further study. We got to see some of the equipment used to analyze the genes of the tumor cells, and where he would harvest samples of tumors for further investigation. He was very patient in explaining his work in lay terms and we were very impressed by the open nature of his sense of inquiry and all the possibilities that could come from his work.

We had brought Hilly, bought in Washington DC to symbolize Alan's lost opportunities, with us since funding this work was our way of making a mark in his name. If you look at what Harold wrote in the program for Alan's memorial, he referred to Alan as our supernova:

Alan's spirit was 'supernova bright'. A supernova is a very large star (which typically shines brighter with a much shorter life span) that comes to the end of its life cycle and explodes with an intensity that can exceed an entire galaxy of stars. And that explosion of light forms the building blocks for new stars and new planetary systems. The word 'nova' itself is Latin for 'new'. 

This work is Alan's explosion - new knowledge and new understanding, building blocks towards better treatments and eventually a cure. The work we are helping to fund is in place of all of Alan's lost opportunities, for all the things he might have done.

With what would have been his 10th birthday coming up this fall, please help us fund more work like Dr. Rainusso's! Judy will be shaving her head with the 46 Mommas this month in honor of all the might-have-beens and is aiming to raising $10,000 - $1000 for each year that Alan should be celebrating.

https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/10for10

Hilly

Starlight cow ride for our Supernova Panda

Dr. Rainusso, Hilly, and Kevin at his lab

Bringing out a sample from the incubator. Once he identifies the target cells he separates them
and reproduces them in this incubator for further study.

Can you spot the cancer cells?

Dr. Rainusso works to identify, separate, and examine the most difficult to treat sarcoma cells

A sterile hood with negative pressure to keep the cells from being contaminated

Like us, Faris's parents wanted to fund pediatric cancer research

Thank you for the tour and your dedication Dr. Rainusso!