At the Johns Hopkins Hunterian Brain Tumor Laboratory, Henry Brem, Betty Tyler, and hundreds of trainees conduct scientific research aimed at improving clinical outcomes for people around the world. Now, a new collaboration with the Venable Foundation is helping propel the lab’s research into new therapies for patients with brain tumors.
The Venable Fund for Neurosurgery Research will support the lab with a $500,000 grant — $100,000 annually through 2028 — to help move research from bench to bedside.
“We are grateful to the Venable Foundation for their support,” says Brem, MD, director of the Department of Neurosurgery and Harvey Cushing Professor. “The Venable Fund for Neurosurgery Research will enable our team to continue our research and further our mission to increase therapeutic options for patients with brain tumors.”
The lab specializes in neuro-oncology and drug delivery. There, Brem and his team developed the GLIADEL® wafer, which neurosurgeons can implant in a patient after a glioblastoma is removed to deliver chemotherapeutics locally and with less toxicity than traditional chemotherapy.
Researchers at the Hunterian Brain Tumor Lab are exploring additional drug delivery options, as well as new technologies like focused ultrasound, that can prolong patient survival.
“The philanthropy keeps everything moving forward,” Tyler, a professor of neurological surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, explains. “This gift will help our current projects and also push the other projects that look promising forward. Translational medicine is expensive, and getting promising therapeutics from the bench to the bedside is critically important.”
Because the lab utilizes volunteers Tyler says the philanthropy will go even further. The Venable Fund will provide research supplies for experiments, from gloves to tissue culture dishes.
“All the funding will be utilized truly on the benchtop,” Tyler says. “It supports an overarching goal to increase therapeutic options for brain tumor patients and will help in that translational pipeline. We are very appreciative.”
The Venable Foundation, which celebrates four decades of impact, is funded by the partners of Venable LLP. It was founded in Baltimore in 1900.
“We are proud to support the important work led by Johns Hopkins,” says Bob Waldman, president of the Venable Foundation. “Their ongoing commitment and research to this cause has made an indelible mark on impacted families, friends, and communities. We hope that this fund will contribute to further learning and development of effective treatments.”
Topics: Friends of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Neurosurgery, Fuel Discovery, Promote and Protect Health