On Thursday June 22nd, the Myocarditis Foundation held it’s 2nd Annual Gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in NYC. There were over 400 supporters in attendance from all over the world. The Chairman of the event was Christopher Corso, and the Master of Ceremonies was Dr. Doug Luffborough, who kept the evening flowing smoothly.
During the cocktail hour, there was a Silent auction where the attendees bid on items donated for the event. There were Not a Blank Canvas storyboards there for people to read as well. These storyboards shared personal experiences of some of the families in attendance and how they were affected by myocarditis.
Among the attendees, there were 33 family members intermixed with supporters where additional stories of myocarditis were shared.
The evening’s speakers included Dr. Leslie Cooper, world renowned Myocarditis Specialist and Dr. DeLisa Fairweather, a Myocarditis specific Researcher from the Mayo Clinic. Both spoke on the Myocarditis Foundation’s 2017 initiative and theme of the gala…starting a Myocarditis specific Bio-Bank. The bio-bank will be the first of its kind for myocarditis and allow collaborating researchers to use the samples (that will be from all the areas of the world, races, cultures, etc.), and where the collaborating researchers will share their findings, helping provide a faster answer for a cure. International collaborations are eligible for higher research grant funding, that you need for clinical trials, etc.
There was a slide show of myocarditis victims and survivors showing the personal side of myocarditis.
The night was closed by Joseph Rumore, President of the Foundation, thanking the generosity of the attendees and sharing plans for the future of the Myocarditis Foundation.
The Myocarditis Foundation would also like to thank all of our supporters, committee members, and any and all who helped to make the Gala a huge success.
