Brain Tumor Research Helps Save Frederico's Life

My son Frederico is 15 years old. He's very smart and loves to go to school. He also loves to travel, build Lego models and read. Six years ago, doctors in our home country of Brazil diagnosed him with a malignant brain tumor called medulloblastoma. It’s a tough disease, especially for a child.

At Children’s National Hospital, we met Dr. Roger Packer, one of the world’s leaders in pediatric brain tumor research. He’s a great doctor. He enrolled Frederico in two experimental treatment protocols, one of them led by another great doctor at Children’s National, Dr. Eugene Hwang, and his neuro-immunology team. The doctors, nurses, clinical staff and everyone at Children’s National worked together to create a trusting and comforting environment. Frederico fought hard, never complained and only thought of the future. He is a warrior.

Dr. Packer is a warrior, too. He saved my son’s life. Frederico is now back in school and doing well. He still sees Dr. Packer for checkups. Thanks to Children’s National, he’s growing up healthy, confident and happy.

Many families are not so lucky. Expanded research will help experts better understand why some children don’t survive medulloblastoma. It will also help us find a cure. Children’s National created the Cure Group Four Consortium, a multi-institutional consortium led by Dr. Packer, to develop a novel treatment for medulloblastoma group four. This is the rare, sub-type of the disease that Frederico faced. Dr. Packer is working with some of the best scientists and institutions in the world to do this important work. I have devoted my life to raising money to support their efforts. For that purpose, I have founded The Medulloblastoma Initiative. What could be more important than that?

Click here to join Fernando in supporting medulloblastoma research and other cutting-edge neurology research taking place at Children’s National.