Change the world ONE STEP AT A TIME!

Dear Family and Friends,

I am excited to be a participant in the 17th Annual Hadassah Nassau Walk-a-Thon for Stem Cell Research.

The scientific evidence is very clear: the cures and treatments for many debilitating and fatal diseases will come from stem cell research and immunotherapy interventions.

The medical research we do today can improve the world of tomorrow.

Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) is internationally recognized for decades of leadership in stem cell research and for immunotherapies that marshal the body’s own resources to fight disease. The stunning results of HMO clinical trials for potential treatments of MS, ALS, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases as well as age related macular degeneration have riveted the worldwide medical community.

We are very excited to be holding our Walk-a-Thon for Stem Cell Research at The Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor on May 21, 2023. You’re invited to WALK with us in the morning at 9:30 am and PARTY at night at 7 pm at our fabulous Evening ZOOM Celebration. Register here

TOGETHER WE CAN TURN RESEARCH INTO CURES.

You have always been so generous and I hope I can count on your support again this year. To make a donation, PLEASE click on the blue DONATE box.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

With love and gratitude,

Georgene

Just want to share another reason to support Stem Cell and Immunotherapy research at Hadassah!!!

HMO NEWS Hadassah Magazine February 2023

CAR T-Cell Therapy Offers Hope to Cancer Patients at Hadassah

Only three countries in the world−the U.S., China and Israel−currently offer CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy for cancer patients. Thanks to the efforts of Hadassah researchers, treatment in Israel is considerably less expensive than anywhere else. Offered at Hadassah Ein Kerem, CAR T-cell therapy is a way to get immune cells, called T-cells (a type of white blood cell) to fight cancer by altering them in the lab so they can find and destroy cancer cells. This therapy is sometimes talked about as a type of cell-based gene therapy because it involves changing the genes inside T- cells to help them attack the cancer.

Prof. Polina Stepensky, who came to Israel from Ukraine, brought this therapy to Israel. Originally using the American therapy, she subsequently developed her own method which is much less expensive. This new method has already saved the life of Uri Lahav-Goldshmid, a 49 year-old sabra father of three and son and grandson of members of Israeli chapters of Hadassah.

Six years ago, Uri was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of bone-marrow cancer. Five different types of treatment failed to be successful in treating his cancer. Uri had read about CAR T-cell therapy and was accepted into Hadassah's trial. His own T-cells were extracted, treated to make them deadly and accurate, and then multiplied and put back into his body to fight the cancer cells. Although the first days were difficult on Uri, this was a good sign. He said it wasn't as bad as chemotherapy or bone-marrow transplantation which he had previously undergone.

In an ongoing Phase I clinical trail, 85 percent of 20 relapsed refractory multiple myeloma patients on the treatment responded, and 71 percent had a complete response. The patients had an average of six previous types of treatment that were no longer effective.

Uri does not yet have long-term results, but his numbers are up and he's already feeling better. What's most encouraging? "It's that at Hadassah they're never standing still. Every day they're working to improve yesterday's treatment. They're working on my type of cancer, and then she's (Prof. Stepensky) going to go after all the others."

Check out the short video below with an inspiring survival and healing story of a lucky HMO patient.