Lymphatic Research Foundation Hosts 2009 Awards Gala

LRF Gala Honoree Roy Reichbach with wife, Melissa Garden City resident, Jacqueline Reinhard, Executive Director of the Lymphatic Research Foundation, announced today that the organization's premier 2009 fundraising event held May 28th at Oheka Castle, was a noteworthy financial success. "Considering the uncertain economic climate, it is truly gratifying that LRF friends and supporters rallied on our behalf with generous contributions and enthusiastic participation," said Reinhard in a recent interview. "The Gala not only gave us a great opportunity to honor some of LRF's most outstandingly generous friends, it also provided needed financial support to bolster the Foundation's important programs."

One of the many highlights of the evening was a reprise of LRF's Call to Action video followed by fourteen-year-old McKenna Johnson of Tennessee who spoke movingly of her experience managing the effects of extensive primary systemic lymphatic disease. McKenna told the audience about extensive therapies and medications that make it impossible for her to join her teenaged friends for many activities. She thanked the audience for supporting 'people like me' who have lymphatic diseases:

LRF Board Chair, Philip Braginsky, and Gala emcee, NY Islanders/Hockey Hall-of-Famer, Mike Bossy, enjoy video introductions of Gala honorees. "My disease is very rare, but hundreds of thousands of people - millions of people - suffer with many different forms of lymphatic disease . . . and there is very little out there for us. The treatments are still the same - wrapping legs or arms with bandages and wearing special garments to keep from swelling. LRF's work brings hope to millions of families like mine. It creates exciting new research programs for the scientists who are working to find new treatments. I know that some day they will find a cure; and I believe that LRF's work is what will be behind that discovery."

Gala Honorees included Mel Dubin, Chair and founder of Slant/Fin Corporation whose corporate headquarters in East Hills and Glen Cove have generously hosted LRF's administrative offices for the past four years, saving the organization hundreds of thousands of dollars in operating expenses; Allan and Tina Neill of Alabama whose philanthropic leadership established the first-ever endowed academic professorship in Lymphatic Research and Medicine; and Roy Reichbach, Corporate Counsel for the New York Islanders and General Counsel and a Director of JumpTV, Inc., a leading internet protocol television company, who has generously supported LRF's work.

Gala Honorees welcomed to Oheka Castle's magnificent Library for a pre-Gala reception right to left): Maurice Segall of Pro Bono Partnership; Mel Dubin, Slant/Fin Corporation; Tina and Allan Neill; Jacqueline Reinhard, LRF Executive Director; Roy Reichbach, New York Islanders; Wendy Chaite, LRF Founder, Dr. Stanley R. Rockson, Chair of LRF's Scientific/Medical Advisory Board. In addition, Stanley G. Rockson, M.D., Allan and Tina Neill Professor of Lymphatic Research and Medicine and Chief of Consultative Cardiology, Falk Cardiovascular Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, received LRF's first "Pioneer Award" for outstanding leadership in the field of lymphatic research and his years of service as Chair of LRF's Scientific/Medical Advisory Board and as Editor-in-Chief of Lymphatic Research and Biology, LRF's official peer-reviewed journal.

LRF founder, Wendy Chaite, and executive director, Jacqueline Reinhard, present award to Gala honoree, Mel Dubin, Chairman and Founder of Slant/Fin Corporation of East Hills, NY New York Islander Hockey Hall-of-Famer, Mike Bossy, added celebrity sparkle as the evening's emcee; and Chris Robbins of Robbins-Wolfe Eventeurs brought generosity-inspiring excitement to the live auction.

The Lymphatic Research Foundation (LRF) is a not-for-profit patient advocacy organization whose primary mission is to advance scientific research of the lymphatic system and to find improved treatments and cures for the broad spectrum of lymphatic diseases. Established in 1998 by Roslyn resident Wendy Chaite, Esq., after her daughter was born with lymphatic disorders, LRF has become a leader in patient advocacy and the primary force behind advancements in lymphatic science worldwide. The Foundation's efforts have been transformative in elevating scientific/medical research of the lymphatic system to what is now considered a critical new field of cutting-edge investigatory research.

LRF's advocacy programs have been effective in gaining Congressional and National Institutes of Health (NIH) support for lymphatic research at NIH and major academic research centers, elevating lymphatic diseases from relative obscurity to a position on par with other national health priorities. The organization's two-year competitive Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Grants Program enables promising young research scientists to pursue cutting-edge research in lymphatics with the premier scientists in the field. Among the Foundation's other accomplishments is the conceptualizing and funding of the first-ever endowed academic Professorship in Lymphatic Research and Medicine (Stanford University Medical School, 2008). LRF's current initiatives include the establishment of a National Lymphatic Disease Patient Registry and Tissue Bank and a national/international lymphatic disease community-building and outreach initiative.

Lymphatic diseases and disorders are estimated to affect millions of people - and possibly hundreds of millions - worldwide. While some lymphatic diseases are congenital, others represent the aftermath of injury or illness, such as insect-borne illnesses or treatment for cancer. Most lymphatic disorders result in lymphedema, a chronic condition that is estimated to affect at least 10 million people in the United States, where various cancer treatments represent the leading cause of secondary lymphedemas. Because the lymphatic system impacts nearly every organ of the human body, lymphatic dysfunction is also implicated in chronic infection, inflammation, trauma, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, underlying vascular disease, and obesity. Inherited diseases of the lymphatic system are less common, but are often life-threatening or life-limiting. Scientific and medical advances in lymphatic investigations are likely to contribute to advancing medical research in the related areas of cancer, inflammation, skin and joint disease, metabolic disease, obesity, autoimmune disease, and organ transplantation-related illness.

To learn more about the Lymphatic Research Foundation and its work, please visit www.lymphaticresearch.org or contact their Glen Cove, NY office at 516/625-9675. Copies of the LRF video, "Call to Action" are available upon request.