Thanks to You

We look forward to celebrating your impact on improving the lives of children with cancer.  

Join us

Join us

 

RSVP here

Thursday, September 21, 2023

6-8:30 p.m.

The Minikahda Club

3205 Excelsior Blvd, Minneapolis

To attend the event, please contact Jenny Phyle at jphyle@ChildrensCancer.org or (952) 224-8482 to check availability. Thank you!
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Evening timeline: 

6-6:45 p.m.

Cocktail Hour

6:45 p.m.

Welcome & Dinner

7:15-8 p.m.

Program

Hosted by Elizabeth Allen & Kenna Dooley

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Butterfly Award

SHOOK Research and the Shook Family have raised close to $2 million so far in support of childhood cancer research and treatments. Our partnership first began in 2019 when CCRF was selected as the philanthropic beneficiary for the Forbes/SHOOK Top Advisor Summit in Las Vegas.

At this event, a gathering of nearly 1,000 advisors and guests raised almost $1 million for lifesaving brain tumor therapy. CCRF was excited to again be chosen for the Forbes/SHOOK Top Advisor Summit in 2022, where over $900,000 was donated to support the work of Dr. Meshinchi and a critical treatment for children with AML.

We are happy to announce we’ve once again been chosen as the philanthropic partner for the 2023 Summit in October. Many thanks to RJ and Liz Shook and family and the SHOOK Research team for their dedication and commitment to ensuring research is advancing and new treatments and cures are evolving.

Speakers

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Elizabeth C. Allen,
CCRF CEO 

Elizabeth came to CCRF  in July from Twin Cities PBS (TPT), where she served as Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing the development and implementation of organizational strategies to achieve TPT’s revenue goals. She is a dedicated leader with executive experience in both for-profit and non-profit organizations, who is deeply committed to centering staff in the development and implementation of strategic initiatives, setting and achieving ambitious revenue goals and significantly growing the impact of the organizations she serves. 

Before her time at TPT, Elizabeth held leadership roles at Socrata, now a part of Tyler Technologies, where she worked with government agencies and administrations to build transparency initiatives to enrich the lives of their citizens, and at Reeher, acquired by Blackbaud in 2018, where she helped colleges and universities find more high-value donors and access the tools and information they need to measure their performance. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and an MBA from the Opus School of Business at the University of St. Thomas. 

“I am honored to join the impressive team at Children’s Cancer Research Fund to continue their work providing support to families and making better, safer treatments for childhood cancer possible,” Elizabeth said. 

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Dr. Soheil Meshinchi, M.D., Ph.D.,
Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Dr. Soheil Meshinchi is an expert in leukemia biology, peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for children with leukemia, management of post-transplant relapse and targeted therapies for acute myeloid leukemia patients. He provides scientific leadership for many national and international committees and cooperative research efforts.  

He has a wealth of expertise in genomic profiling and determining the prognostic value of specific molecular alterations in AML and has developed numerous clinical assays that have been implemented in cooperative group trials.  

Dr. Meshinchi serves as director of the largest genome and transcriptome sequencing project in pediatric and young adult AML and has created a robust biorepository of viable cells, plasma and extracted nucleic acids from over 100,000 specimens from 3,000 patients. He has also fostered a consortium of computational and laboratory scientists to interrogate genomic data generated from these samples to guide the development of novel biomarkers and therapeutics. 

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Christina and Joe Siders,
Parents of acute myeloid leukemia survivor, Ella, AML Fighter

Ella was diagnosed with a very rare form of AML when she was just a toddler. Her intense treatment required her to spend the next 8 months in the hospital – during that time her family only spent 14 days together at home.   

Christina and Joe have learned more than they ever wanted to know about AML, and the more they learn, the more fearful they become. They know that science hasn’t caught up to their daughter’s type of cancer, and without better treatments, the cards are stacked against her. But they’ve turned that fear into action, raising funds for researchers who are working on safer, more effective treatments for high risk AML right now. The goal of this research is to prevent relapse and reduce side-effects.  

They are looking forward with hope and trepidation towards her 6th birthday – that will be the day that Ella is officially declared “cured” if her treatments succeed at killing every last leukemia cell in her little body.   

We look forward to celebrating your impact on improving the lives of children with cancer.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

6-8:30 p.m.

The Minikahda Club

3205 Excelsior Blvd, Minneapolis

Our online RSVP page has expired. To attend, please contact Jenny Phyle at jphyle@childrenscancer.org or 952-224-8482. Please note, space is limited.

Evening Timeline:

6-6:45pm

6:45pm

7:15-8pm

Cocktail Hour

Welcome & Dinner

Program

Program

Your impact on childhood cancer
Dr. Joe Neglia
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Joe Neglia, MD, MPH

Head of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School
Physician-in-Chief, M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital

Dr. Joseph Neglia is the Head of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Physician-in-Chief of the M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital. He holds the Ruben-Bentson Chair and a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health in the School of Public Health.

Dr. Neglia's area of research involves the long-term effects of cancer therapy in cancer survivors and the occurrence of second malignancies following childhood cancer. He is nationally and internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of childhood cancer long-term effects. He currently is Principal Investigator at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota for the Children's Oncology Group (COG), and the vice-chair of the Voting Body of the COG.

Your impact on families facing cancer
FRITZ URBAN & FAMILY
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Fritz Urban, childhood cancer survivor

Fritz Urban was nine years old in March of 2021 when his mom noticed what looked like a dental abscess. After a trip to the dentist and ER, he was eventually diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of Ewings Sarcoma localized to his mandible. Through all the surgeries, treatments and side effects, Fritz has maintained his sense of humor and silliness. His incredible family, including his parents and three older siblings, celebrate every year on his diagnosis date that he is still here, and we cannot wait for you to meet them.

Recognition
Honoring those who made special contributions to CCRF’s mission
Elizabeth C. Allen and John Golden
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Elizabeth C. Allen, CCRF CEO

Elizabeth joined CCRF as CEO in July 2023, inspired by the opportunity to improve the lives of children with cancer, and she can often be heard to say that CCRF is turning heartbreak into hope. Elizabeth has displayed a tireless commitment to growing the community of CCRF supporters to fuel research progress and, ultimately, cure childhood cancer.

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John Golden, Chair, Board of Directors

John’s son, Julian, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at just three years old. Two weeks into treatment, he got an infection that his chemo-weakened immune system couldn’t handle, and he died just before his 4th birthday. John and his family miss Julian every day and treasure every memory of him.

John has been involved with CCRF for over a decade, starting soon after Julian’s passing. He has helped with everything from an in-kind donation his company offered to help with CCRF’s webpage, to participating in and fundraising for events, to using his mixology skills to create “Julian’s Manhattan”, served at Spoon & Stable and this year, at Mara also, for September’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. 20% of those sales are donated to CCRF. John, along with his family and friends, has raised more than $100,000 with these collective efforts.