California Dream

Today is Michael’s birthday and the kickoff of Swifty’s Annual Appeal, and so I’d like to tell you about our California Dream. It’s a dream that takes us to Michelle Monje’s lab at Stanford … I’m going to get all STEM on you now, so get ready!

You may remember from past years, that Michael’s Master Plan was his decision to donate his body to science to help find a cure for pediatric cancer. Once we navigated the unchartered waters of donating his autopsy tissue, Michael’s Master Plan became Swifty’s Master Plan.  We learned how rare children’s autopsy donation is and how extremely vital that tissue is for finding a cure … and so we got to work!

Dr. Monje was the first researcher to successfully develop an autopsy derived mouse model of DIPG, a pediatric brain tumor that is always fatal.  That was the first of many such mouse models made possible only through brain tissue donated at the time of death. In addition to the research progress that this tissue has empowered within the Monje lab, these models have been widely distributed throughout the research community. Dr. Monje’s lab has currently shared brain tumor cells for culture and mouse modeling to over 100 labs on 5 continents!

The problem is every precious donation takes so much time and energy … from the emotional toll of the decision to the complexity of the logistics, there is so much to attend to.  For example, each donation requires an average of 100 phone calls. Up to now, it has been Dr. Monje making those 100 calls for every donation her lab has received. To me, this is like Elon Musk spending his days ordering parts for Tesla, a necessary task but not the best use of his talents.

Swifty wants Dr. Monje in her lab doing the cutting-edge research she alone is capable of.  Let someone else be focused on the important work of the donation …. The Tissue Navigator! Our Annual Appeal is raising $300,000 to bring a tissue navigator to the Monje lab for the next three years. 100% of every dollar raised goes directly to the Monje lab’s navigator position.  You can donate here.

Having the Tissue Navigator will also enable Dr. Monje to expand her innovative work beyond DIPG to OTHER pediatric brain tumors … like the kind our Michael succumbed to, medulloblastoma.

Twenty-one years old!  Today, we would be toasting Michael with a drink if he had survived. Wondering if he would choose a Beefeater martini like his Grandpa Carroll or a nice cold beer like his Grandpa Gustafson?  I know his twin sister, Bridget will be silently toasting him as she buys her first (legal) drink. Hope you will raise a glass with us to celebrate all that Swifty and Michael’s Master Plan has achieved in the 5½ years he has been gone.

So, about that dream. Ultimately the dream I’m talking about is the dream that one day no mom, dad, brother, sister, grandpa, aunt or best friend has to say goodbye to a child dying from cancer. THAT’S the dream.