The Brain Tumor Foundation hosted its annual “Taste for Life” dinner on December 9, 2019, this year honoring Dr. Philip Stieg and Dr. Theodore Schwartz for their contributions to the field. Dr. Stieg received the BTF President’s Leadership Medal to thank him for his four years of service as president of the foundation, as he handed the reins to incoming president Michael Schulder, MD. Dr. Schwartz was honored for his pioneering work in minimally invasive approaches to resecting brain tumors, especially endoscopic endonasal surgery. His fellow honoree, Avi Yaron, is an entrepreneur whose own brain tumor diagnosis spurred him to partner with Dr. Schwartz and his colleague Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield to develop the minuscule stereotactic camera needed to reach deep-seated tumors.
Dr. Schwartz was introduced at the dinner by his patient Jaime Hersh, who was told by multiple neurosurgeons that her meningioma would require a full craniotomy. Dr. Schwartz removed it through a small incision near her eyebrow, and she walked out of the hospital three days after surgery. A mere 12 days after the surgery Jaime was standing at the podium at the BTF dinner introducing her favorite neurosurgeon.
The Taste for Life dinner also marked the debut of the BTF Kids’ App, called My Health Journey. The app, which was specially designed to help young brain tumor patients understand their condition and their treatment, was created with the input of Dr. Mark Souweidane and the Child Life team at NewYork-Presbyterian, among other facilities.
