Art of The Brain

Art of the Brain, a non-profit organization under the auspices of the UCLA Foundation, held its annual fundraising gala oto spotlight the talent, courage and strength of brain cancer survivors and raise funds for brain cancer research headed by Dr. Timothy Cloughesy at the UCLA Neuro-Oncology Program.

Jim Owens is a husband, a father, and an athlete,

he was out training for a marathon, when he felt some weakness

in one side of his body,

the next day he was told he had a brain tumor

but through all the treatments, and all the surgeries,

Jim has kept up the fight, he recently competed

in a cross-country ski event. He actually said,

"I'm not going to let this run my life."

(music)

Another is Kim Gray a successful dentist,

who's life changed forever when doctors found a

a golf ball sized tumor.

Doctors removed the tumor,

but her days as a dentist were over,

but she refused to stop living her life,

Kim went to an art class with a friend and suddenly discovered

she was a painter, she just sold her first piece of artwork.

(music)

Tonight is called Art of The Brain,

we honor all brain cancer patients who are under the care

of Dr. Tim Cloughesy.

We want to...

I asked him early on, what was one thing

all the patients had in common,

those who got better,

He said, The one thing they have in common is Art.

Art meaning everything from poetry to music making,

to writing, filmmaking.

So I drew on that to help other patients,

so we put this on every year in the fall

so we can display Art, or like tonight is more about

Singing for Survival is the tittle of this event tonight.

(music)

When we started this in the year 2000,

I would've never imagined that we'd be going as strong as

we are now raising over 5 million dollars

for advanced brain cancer.

Thank you.

(applause)

This would've never happened

without the efforts of Judi Kaufman.

(applauses and cheers)

And all of our patients who inspire us each and every day

to search for a cure.

In particular, there has been a confluence of therapeutic

and technological advances there are changing the face

of brain cancer care.

Thirteen years ago the first Human Genome

was sequenced, it took ten years and three billion dollars.

Today, we can sequence an individuals tumor over

three to four days

at a cost of around a thousand dollars,

it's cheaper than an MRI scan.

The data that exist in this cancer genome gives us clues

to the cause of cancer,

how cancer evades treatment

and how it provides insight into better, more rational,

personalized therapies.

(music)

Everything here is volunteer,

we pay for nothing,

everybody comes from the goodness of their heart,

everything is donated, we don't pay for a thing,

we just love everybody,

this Art of The Brain is based on love and big hearts.