Research Fund
Lauren's Foundation Brain Tumor Research Fund
This fund provides for an annual grant to the American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA), a leading non-profit organization that sponsors research into the causes of brain tumors, effective treatments and, ultimately, the search for a cure.
This fund was established in memory of Lauren Fitzgerald, who died at age 20 from a primary brain tumor - a grade 3 anaplastic oligodendroglioma. The tumor was diagnosed while Lauren, age 19, was a freshman student at Drexel University. Lauren underwent two (2) surgeries, in May and June, 2004 to remove tumor mass. Shortly after the surgeries, she began a chemotherapy regimen.
During a leave of absence from Drexel in 2005, Lauren's tumor grew back aggressively. She was hospitalized in June, 2005, then transported to Duke University Hospital in July for additional surgery. She died on July 18, 2005, after doctors determined that she would not benefit from another surgery.
Brain Tumor Facts:
Brain tumors do not discriminate. Primary brain tumors - those that begin in the brain and tend to stay in the brain - occur in people of all ages, but they are statistically more frequent in children and older adults. Metastatic brain tumors – those that begin as a cancer elsewhere in the body and spread to the brain – are more common in adults than in children.
Brain tumors are the:
- the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children under age 20 (leukemia is the first)
- the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in males up to age 39
- the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in females under age 20.
- The fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in females ages 20–39.6
The facts and statistics here include brain and central nervous system tumors (including spinal cord, pituitary and pineal gland tumors). We continually update these statistics, as they become available. This material was last updated in March 2010. We thank the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS) for their assistance with that update.
Lauren's Brain Tumor Research Fund is managed by the Berks County Community Foundation, (BCCF) a fully-accredited, non-profit, IRS 501(c)(3) approved charitable organization. Contributions made to this fund through BCCF are fully tax deductible.
Learn more about the latest developments in brain tumor research and treatments by visiting these sites:
American Brain Tumor Association ABTA
National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS)