Keith Desserich, co-founder of The Cure Starts Now worldwide charity for pediatric brain tumor research, joins us today at this hopeful new year’s beginning. When Keith and his wife Brooke found out that their beautiful daughter Elena had DIPG, a devastating pediatric brain tumor, there were no dedicated clinical trials, no networks, no information and no parent groups. Elena’s story was the first public case of DIPG, ultimately becoming the subject of a bestselling book titled “Notes Left Behind” that was published in 22 languages and forming the basis for what is now around $16 million in funded DIPG research with millions more now spent annually. After Elena’s death in 2007, they created The Cure Starts Now Foundation, the largest DIPG/DMG research charity with 40 locations in the US, Australia and Canada. They also founded the DIPG/DMG Collaborative coordinating the efforts of another 25 independent DIPG centric charities, and so many more developments approaching the threshold of a cure.
We learn about new innovations in research and networks for family support, including the new DIPG Warriors Facebook group, all of which can be found at www.thecurestartsnow.org. Visit this link for the podcast.
