About BMF page





















The Brian Morden Foundation was created to honor Brian, a courageous 19 year old, who battled Ewing's Sarcoma for more than two years. He lost the battle on February 15, 2003, but his family, friends, and many others who only knew Brian by reputation have vowed to continue the fight against this horrible disease.

The foundation has three goals:

  • Fund Ewing's Sarcoma and childhood cancer research.
  • Support patients, family, and staff of pediatric oncology units*
  • Provide funding for "Brian Morden Memorial" higher education scholarships

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Welcome family and friends of
Becky Ann McKnight
and Brian David Manley.
The Brian Morden Foundation is grateful
for Becky and Brian's suggestion
to consider a donation to the Brian Morden Foundation
as an expression of joy about their marriage.
If you choose to donate to the BMF, please see
Support the BMF

Thanks Becky and Brian. We love you!

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Upcoming events:

BMF Night at the Altoona Curve Ballpark
July 25th at 6 PM to celebrate
International Sarcoma Awareness Week
July 17-25, 2010

PLEASE join us and help fight back against cancer!
contact fdj@brianmordenfoundation.org to reserve your tickets


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A HUGE thank you to all who helped with and/or participated in the
Team Gold Ribbon Ride
Saturday, May 29th, 2010
Fort Roberdeau, Sinking Valley

Especially:
The AAHS Interact Club, Jamie Bergstein and Debbie Flynn, advisors
Our sponsors
Scott Woomer, Eric Merschiltz - road crew
Silvia, Barb, Barb, Lisa,
George, Adam, Grammy, Poppop - always ready to lend a helping hand
Our survivors and their families - DJ, Erin, Ryder, Timmy

For pictures of the event see TGRR2010

For information about previous rides, see TGRR 2008

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2010 Brian Morden Memorial Scholarship Award winners:

Amanda Freeman
Elizabeth Hughes
Doug Longwill

Congratulations!

Thanks Grammy and Poppop for your yearly birthday gift to Brian
and the BMF, ensuring that we will be able to award
a Brian Morden Memorial Scholarship.

Thank you to others who have generously given
so that we could award 2 additional scholarships this year.

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Sadly, we have lost yet another precious life to Ewing's Sarcoma.

Much sympathy, hugs, love, and prayers to and for
the family and friends of Heather Miller, age 11,
who at 10:05 PM, January 29, 2010,
peacefully went to be an angel in heaven.
Wendy (her mom) was holding her in her arms
singing 'Our God is an awesome God.'
GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME

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Thanks to all who gave blood in honor of Alexis Battisti
on January 25, 2010.

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Much sympathy to the family and friends of Brittany Nelson, age 18,
who went to be with her Lord on December 30, 2009.
Our prayers are with you.

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A great big thank you
to McAuliffe Heights Elementary School
Your generous gifts are much appreciated!

The annual student/faculty basketball game
was again a huge success! Part of the proceeds
were donated to the BMF.

Students in grades 3 and 4 and members of
student council created and sold products and gave
the proceeds to the BMF.


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Thanks to Alyssa Chambers and her school.
You raised $2000 to help kids with cancer.

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Thanks to all* who supported the Gold Ribbon Campaign in the Altoona area.
More than $1500 was raised this year to help us in our fight against childhood cancer.

*AAHS Student Council
AAHS Interact Club
Baker Elementary
Ebner Elementary
Logan Elementary
McAuliffe Heights Elementary
Penn Lincoln Elementary
Washington & Jefferson Elementary
Mayor Wayne Hippo and Altoona City Council
Countless individuals who helped in so many different ways

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Thanks:
Stephen Chandler Gates Music Festival
August 8, 2009 - 2 PM to dusk
Dutch Run Farm
for more information see www.scgatesfoundation.org

You raised $3000 to help kids with cancer.

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6th Annual Team Gold Ribbon Ride - May 29, 2010
Please plan to participate.

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Happy 26th Birthday, Brian
January 10, 1984


SuperBrian

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YOU can make a difference
in the lives of the innocent children and families
who have to suffer with this horrendous disease.


Some suggestions from the Brian Morden Foundation:
  • Send cards to children with cancer. Contact the BMF for addresses.
  • Donate to the Brian Morden Foundation through our website. You will be helping to fight back against childhood cancer.
  • Adopt "Issy" to send to a childhood cancer patient, give to a loved one, or keep for yourself

  • Help Issy spread the word about the need for childhood cancer research!
  • Support the BMF through the purchase of an ornament or other merchandise
  • Attend any upcoming BMF event!

Please see our National Childhood Cancer Awareness page to find out more.

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September 2008 Update from Dr. Lessnick, a recipient of one of our research grants:

In terms of science, we’re making pretty solid progress all around.  In terms of a “lay person version,” as you know, we work on the genetic mutation that causes Ewing’s sarcoma.  This mutation creates a protein, called EWS/FLI, that serves as a master-regulator of gene expression in these tumors.  We recently made a surprising finding:  EWS/FLI regulates at least some genes by using “junk DNA” in the human genome.  Approximately 50% of the human genome may be “junk DNA,” that is, DNA with no known function.  EWS/FLI seems to have figured out how to use some of these regions, and in doing so, induces Ewing’s sarcoma.  This work was just published in a pretty high-profile journal.

Additionally, through our studies of the genes that are regulated by EWS/FLI, we have some VERY PRELIMINARY data about a drug that may be useful for Ewing’s sarcoma.  This drug is called vorinostat, and it’s from Merck.  It blocks a class of proteins, called histone deacetylases.  These proteins participate in gene regulation.  We’ve worked out a series of connections by which EWS/FLI turns on a second protein called NKX2.2.  NKX2.2 uses histone deacetylase inhibitors to regulate even more genes.  By blocking this pathway, we can block the growth of Ewing’s sarcoma tumor cells in the laboratory.  We’re now starting to see if we can do this in a mouse model of the disease.  If that looks good, then we’d try to bring this agent to a clinical trial.

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Personal Tragedies Bring Hope to Sarcoma Patients
Developing a Vaccine for Treating Sarcoma is a Primary Goal

September 2006 - Dr. Geiger and his research team are actively looking for eligible participants for the vaccine pilot study which the Brian Morden Foundation has helped fund. For more information, please see study details which includes a brief summary of eligibility requirements and contact information.

August 2006 - Dr. Geiger reported the following in an email, "We have all approvals and are ready to start evaluating patients for the trial.  We also should be able to provide a link to a website with info about the trial." As soon as we receive that information, we'll post it here.

September 2008 - Dr. Geiger reported the following in an email, "10 patients have completed the trial so far. We have some results back on 8 of them. 5 out of 8 have shown a response to their tumor in the immune testing. It is still a little early to tell too much and a few patients have progressed. We are currently giving some patients booster vaccines to hopefully improve the response to tumor. We will know more over the next several months."

Background Information: 

January 28, 2005 - The Brian Morden Foundation and the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative joined forces to fund research on a vaccine to treat recurrent/relapsed Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare cancer. The vaccine is being developed by a team of oncology specialists at the University of Michigan Medical Center led by Dr. James D. Geiger. This study continues an initial Phase I Clinical Trial funded by the National Institutes of Health that Dr. Geiger and his team initiated. Funds from the Brian Morden Foundation and the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, in addition to grants from the University of Michigan will allow doctors to offer a new alternative to patients whose traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy have failed. See Vaccine Pilot Study proposed by Dr. James D. Geiger. See press release.

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We celebrated Brian's 26th birthday on January 10, 2010.
Please sign our guestbook to help us celebrate his life.

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*Brian was lovingly cared for at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, the initial focus of the second BMF goal. We still plan to contribute in important ways to the oncology unit there, however, we have expanded our outreach with Brian Baskets and "Issy" bears, sending them to other pediatric cancer patients especially to those in the Altoona Area, Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Geisinger, and Penn State Children's Hospital in Hershey where some of our area children are being treated. We have also tried to brighten up the day for some children from the Ewing's Sarcoma list serv. If you know a child with cancer who could use a "pick-me-up," please contact us at fdj@brianmordenfoundation.org. We hope to be able to help as many pediatric oncology patients as possible.

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Join our mailing list for newsletters and other updates.

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Contact The Brian Morden Foundation at fdj@brianmordenfoundation.org

last updated 6/18/10