Foundation started by Long Island family raises funds for CSHL at sixth annual Angel’s Wish Gala
Cold Spring Harbor, NY — The Christina Renna Foundation raised $20,000 at their sixth annual Angel’s Wish Gala on January 11, 2013. The funds will be used to support cancer research in the laboratory of Dr. Linda Van Aelst at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL).
The Christina Renna Foundation was established in honor of Christina Renna, a Long Island teenager who died of soft tissue cancer in January 2007. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting children’s cancer research and furthering awareness and education through the support of cancer groups and outreach programs for the direct support of those in need.
“Now more than ever, the funding of scientific research is critical to advancing our knowledge of how to fight pediatric cancers,” said Philip Renna, Christina’s father and director of the Foundation, who has been a CSHL employee over three decades. “There is nowhere in the world more prepared to do this work than Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and this is why we are proud to support the ongoing work of Dr. Linda Van Aelst.”
Dr. Van Aelst holds a Ph.D. from Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, in molecular biology, and performs research on several diseases including cancer and neuropathologies. Her cancer research specifically focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular underpinnings of medulloblastomas, which arise in the cerebellum and can spread along the spine. They are the most common type of primary brain tumors affecting children. “I would like to thank the Christina Renna Foundation for supporting my research work at CSHL,” said Dr. Van Aelst.
For more information about the Christina Renna Foundation, visit www.crf4acure.org
Written by: Communications Department | publicaffairs@cshl.edu | 516-367-8455