Miracle Foundation Donates Funds For Prosthetic Eye

Pictured from left to right are Jane Millard, Miracle Foundation Trustee; Dr. Brian Marr, Assistant Attending, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Kerith Flynn, Miracle Foundation Trustee; Dr. George Bohle, Dir. of Maxillofacial Prosthetics Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Patricia Tenaglia, Miracle Foundation Co-Founder; Dr. David Abramson, Chief of the Ophthalmic Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Joe Castronovo, Miracle Foundation President; Kate Debold, Miracle Foundation Director.

he Miracle Foundation, Long Island's leading charitable foundation dedicated to supporting research and treatment of cancer, recently presented a $330,000 grant to Dr. David Abramson of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This grant will support the design of a computerized ocular prosthetic which will greatly enhance the lives of retinoblastoma patients. The $330,000 gift will enable Dr. Abramson to marry technology, science and medicine to develop a revolutionary prototype for a prosthetic eye, dramatically improving its cosmetic appearance.

The funds were raised at a unique and moving cocktail reception, Looking At The Stars, which was hosted by The Miracle Foundation in October 2007. The event, attended by over 400 guests, was held at The Players Club in Gramercy Par k, New York City. 'The Miracle Foundation's ongoing generosity and commitment to those diagnosed with cancer is strongly evident," said Dr. Abramson, Chief, Ophthalmic Oncology Service, Department of Surgery. "We thank The Miracle Foundation for this special gift and for supporting this revolutionary technology," he continued.

"We were so gratified with the success of the event and the generosity and support of so many individuals," said Kerith Flynn, a Trustee of the Foundation who is also a Partner of Margali & Flynn Designs and a parent of a retinoblastoma survivor. "Dr. Abramson's work in the treatment of retinoblastoma is nationally renowned. We are thrilled to enable Dr. Abramson to embark on this pioneering approach which will change the lives markedly of those who have lost an eye to cancer," she continued.