Lauren's Legacy: The Cure Starts Now Funds $2M In Brain Cancer Research

By Mike Perleberg (Cincinnati, Oh.) - The Cure Starts Now Foundation is helping keep Lauren Hill’s legacy alive by providing millions of dollars to help find a cure for cancer. Hill, a Lawrenceburg High School graduate and basketball player for Mount St. Joseph University, died in April of 2015 following a brave battle against a form of brain cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG. Before her passing, she achieved her dream of playing college basketball for the MSJU Lions. In the process, she inspired people and organizations to donate more than $2.2 million to find a cure for pediatric brain cancer. The Cure Starts Now Foundation awarded over $2 million in funding for DIPG-specific research during the 2017 DIPG Symposium earlier this May, which is brain cancer awareness month. Dr. Oren Becher, a grant recipient of The Cure Starts Now, talked about the progress of DIPG research. “I started working on DIPG in 2007. Back then nobody was studying DIPG, I think I was one of two or three people. Today, I would say there are probably 30 or 40 researchers around the world that are studying DIPG,” Becher said. Thanks to Hill’s efforts, there is increased interest in DIPG. That awareness, as well as the collaborative nature of the researchers and organizations, is paramount to advancing the science and understanding of the inoperable brain tumors. Dr. Michelle Monje of Stanford University, another grant recipient, is keenly aware of this collaboration. “We have to work together, this is a small scientific community and whatever resource is available to one researcher should be available to all researchers so we can work together to move forward,” she said. The $2 million in research grants is a record for The Cure Starts Now. Brooke Desserich co-founded The Cure Starts Now 10 years ago after her daughter, Elena, became a victim of DIPG. She never envisioned funding such quality research grants at such a large amount. “This quick growth is attributed to our 29 dedicated CSN chapter families working together to effectively and efficiently raise the greatest amount of money for DIPG research,” Desserich says. Since 2007, The Cure Starts Now and the DIPG Collaborative have funded more than $7.3 million in research worldwide for a cure for DIPG, as well as a homerun cure for all cancers - something Lauren Hill knew wouldn't come in time for her, but could save the lives of future cancer patients.