NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The AYJ Fund of North Adams was a lead sponsor for the 2nd International Gliomatosis Cerebri Conference that was held at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. 

 

The conference in late June brought together leading physicians and researchers from Europe, Canada and leading cancer facilities from across the United States to collaborate, present research and advance the study of this rare brain cancer.

 

Kathy and Joe Arabia created the AYJ Fund to honor their 16-year-old daughter Anna Yan Ji Arabia, who died of gliomatosis cerebri in 2013. Upon diagnosis, the family determined it was unacceptable that there was no research being done on this type of brain tumor, for which there has been no effective treatment or cure. 

 

Families and foundations from Spain, France, Peru, Kuwait and across the United States joined the scientists at this conference to advance research and make a difference.

 

Dr. Kathy Warren of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, who chaired this conference, is a 1982 graduate of the former North Adams State College, now Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Warren is now head of pediatric neuro-oncology at the National Cancer Institute.

 

Since the first Gliomatosis Cerebri Conference, which was held at the Curie Institute in Paris, physicians and researchers have conducted research, developed cell lines, analyzed tissue and published a number of journal articles sharing information.

 

The AYJ Fund and collaborating foundations are committed to supporting critical research and new projects coming out of this exciting conference to advance knowledge, and find effective treatments to treat both children and adults impacted by this devastating disease.

 

For additional information, follow the AYJ Fund at www.AYJfund.org or AYJ Fund on Facebook.