Meet Dr. Michael Jensen and His Colleagues

Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research Profile from ben towne foundation on Vimeo.

If you have wondered, "Who is Dr. Michael Jensen?" and "What is the Ben Towne Center?," the answer is right here. It will take five and a half minutes of your time, and will leave you inspired with HOPE.

At Hannah's Hopeful Hearts on April 10th, you will have another opportunity to hear from this brilliant, compassionate doctor - and from another, brilliant, compassionate doctor, Jim Olson. The intellect, love, devotion and progressive spirit which these two men bring to their mission has never before been shared on the same stage. Please join us, and give yourself the gift of an evening of music, good food and drink, and - most importantly - good news about how these gifted researchers are arresting the #1 cause of death (by disease) of children.

 

Curing pediatric cancer will also lead to cures for adults.

Hannah's Hopeful Hearts - Join Us April 10th!

Please join us!

Mark your calendar,

and go to

http://hannahshopefulhearts.brownpapertickets.com

to reserve your tickets! Space is limited; don't miss this special event!

Gregg and I are delighted to invite you to join us at Hannah’s Hopeful Hearts on Friday, April 10^th, 2015, 7:00 pm at Grace Church on Bainbridge Island.  This event is in memory of Hannah Hunt and our daughter Katie, two vibrant, beloved girls who passed away from pediatric cancer.

The first Hannah’s Hopeful Hearts event in March, 2010 was an enormous success, raising funds for brain tumor research which were critical in the development of Dr. Jim Olson’s Tumor Paint, which is now in clinical trials.  Tumor Paint aids in surgery by illuminating only cancerous cells, improving outcomes by leaving healthy brain cells untouched. Further innovative research is being pursued by Jim and his colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center under the name of Project Violet. They are creating a new class of nature-derived compounds that treat cancer (and other diseases) while leaving healthy cells untouched.

The Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research supports the Jensen Lab at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research (BTCCCR). The Jensen Lab is named for Dr. Michael Jensen, a Bainbridge Island resident and the director of the BTCCCR at Seattle Children's Research Institute. Under Mike’s leadership, the BTCCR has achieved great success with its T-Cell (immunotherapy) research, targeting the most common childhood cancers - leukemia, neuroblastoma, brain tumors and sarcomas.  Currently, 11 children (and counting) who have been treated through the BTCCR’s clinical trials are in remission! A new clinical trial treating relapsed neuroblastoma has been launched, and there is hopeful progress for curing brain tumors with T-Cell therapy, as well. 

At the Hannah’s Hopeful Hearts event on April 10th, you will hear presentations by, and a moderated discussion with, Dr. Olson and Dr. Jensen – two leading lights in cancer research who have never before shared a stage.  Hannah’s mother, Reba Ferguson, and I will speak briefly on behalf of families supporting Jim’s and Mike’s work. Wine and beer, light hors d’oeuvres and a simple dessert buffet will be provided; the evening will conclude with a lively concert by the band St. Paul de Vence.  This band is featured on The Violet Sessions CD, a creative project which supports the Olson Lab. If you’d like to hear a sample of their music, go to http://stpaulband.com/#/music/ .

Please reserve your spot now at http://hannahshopefulhearts.brownpapertickets.com,

and join us and the Hunt-Ferguson family for an inspirational evening, furthering the work of these two brilliant doctors in their mutual goal of finding less toxic, more effective treatments for pediatric cancer. If you are unable to join us on April 10^th, you may make a donation via the same link (perhaps your employer will match your gift).

With hope and gratitude,

Karen and Gregg Gerstenberger

 Special thanks to our Title Sponsor, Windermere Real Estate of Bainbridge Island, WA

Hannah’s Hopeful Hearts 2015 benefits:

Gold Ribbon Night

Katie with Dr. Pollard (left) and Dr. Gardner (right)

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the 2nd Annual Gold Ribbon Night for Pediatric Cancer Awareness, put on by Seattle Children's Hospital and Research Foundation. It was held in a beautiful private golf club in Seattle which is called "Broadmoor."

(Whenever I hear that name, I think, "detained during His Majesty's pleasure...in Broadmoor Asylum"* in England. I wonder if the founders of the exclusive club and gated community in Seattle had any idea about the name's "other" meaning...) 

Anyway, last night's event was a warm, elegant, yet informal affair, filled with passionate advocates of pediatric cancer research and the local clinicians we support, who are doing fantastic work in the field. It was delightful to mingle with friends, acquaintances and familiar doctors, nurses and researchers, sharing news and memories.

The program was led by our friend Jeff Towne, co-founder of the Ben Towne Foundation, and moderated by Dr. Bruder Stapleton (one of my personal favorites in the administration of the hospital). The panel consisted of three researchers who are doing ground-breaking work in different areas of pediatric cancer (two of whom - Dr. Rebecca Gardner and Dr. Doug Hawkins - took care of Katie) and a parent-advocate. They answered questions, and shared their thoughts about their current projects and personal research goals.

We watched this video, which tells the story of one of the patients recently cured by T-cell therapy at the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research in Seattle. Please take a few minutes to watch - it will inspire you!

One of the highlights of the evening, for me, was sitting with Dr. Julie Park (Katie's primary oncologist) and our friend Charlotte, who was my "date" for the evening, and sharing in a heartfelt discussion with them after the panel program ended.
Another highlight was returning home and checking my messages to find that yet another patient has been cured by T-cell therapy here in Seattle. That is the 11th patient cured, as far as I know!

And today, even more wonderful news: an immunotherapeutic clinical trial is has just opened, under Dr. Park's leadership, for pediatric patients with neuroblastoma. This awful solid tumor has a horrific treatment regimen and a dismal survival rate, but now, there is a new way to treat it - using the knowledge gained from the successes in Dr. Jensen's T-cell therapy trials. This is the cancer from which Ben Towne suffered and died, so it is particularly meaningful to have this clinical trial at the BTCCCR.

If you would like to know how you can get involved in this important work, which will also benefit adult cancer research, please leave a comment here and I will reply privately

*quoted from A System of Medicine, Volume 8, edited by Thomas Clifford Allbutt, Sir Humphry Davy Rolleston