News Briefs

• Jefferson Celebrates Nurses Week May 8-12

• Kimmel Cancer Center to hold Survivors ‘Celebration of Life’ June 5

• Area Foundations Support Jefferson Research Projects

Jefferson Celebrates Nurses Week May 8-12
Jefferson Nursing In the New Millennium: “Where do you want to go” is the theme for this year’s Nurses Week at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Celebratory activities will take place from Monday, May 8 to Wednesday, May 12 and will highlight our nurses’ unique qualities, visionary thinking and caring abilities.

Other activities planned for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s celebration include a video which will spotlight Jefferson nurses in their daily roles on the units.

Kimmel Cancer Center to hold Survivors ‘Celebration of Life’ June 5
Thomas Jefferson University’s Kimmel Cancer Center will celebrate Cancer Survivors Day on June 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Bluemle Life Sciences Building. Sunday, June 4, marks National Cancer Survivors Day, and this will be the first time Thomas Jefferson University has held a celebration in conjunction with this national event. 

The “Celebration of Life” will honor the lives and accomplishments of all cancer survivors with music, food, an exhibit of art and writing by cancer survivors, and inspirational talks by special guest speakers. 

One very special guest will be Mary Ann Castimore, a breast cancer survivor and member of the Breast Cancer Fund’s expedition to climb Mt. McKinley, which was captured in the PBS documentary: “Climb Against the Odds.”

Ms. Castimore made her climb three years after being diagnosed for metastatic breast cancer. She continues to climb, and speaks to raise hope for all women with metastatic breast cancer. 

Other guest speakers include Robert Butera, President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Convention Center and a cancer survivor, and Jefferson’s Richard C. Wender, MD, Clinical Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Family Medicine, and Past President of the Southeast Region of the American Cancer Society. 

Cancer survivors, families, friends and all members of the Jefferson community are invited to attend this special event sponsored by the Kimmel Cancer Center, The Women’s Board of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Amgen, Inc. and Novartis. 

To RSVP or for more information, call 215-955-8370 or email Lora.Rhodes@mail.tju.edu.

Area Foundations Support Jefferson Research Projects
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Pew Charitable Trusts recently awarded a grant of $149,000 through their Pew Fund program for the elderly to support the Senior Health and Independence Program (SHIP), which is a collaborative effort of Jefferson’s Department of Family Medicine and the Philadelphia Senior Center (PSC). Christine A. Arenson, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Jefferson Medical College, serves as Medical Director of SHIP.

Under the leadership of Dr. Arenson, this unique initiative will deliver coordinated, comprehensive multidisciplinary health and social services to at-risk and frail elderly clients of PSC to help these clients live independently for as long as possible. This population is often unable to navigate the complex healthcare and social services systems. SHIP, by providing a comprehensive approach, can help coordinate care and foster independence and an enhanced quality of life for these individuals.

The Pew Charitable Trusts support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic investments to help organizations and citizens develop practical solutions to difficult problems. In 1999, with approximately $4.9 billion in assets, the Trusts granted over $250 million to 206 nonprofit organizations.

F. M. Kirby Foundation, Inc.
The F. M. Kirby Foundation has awarded a grant of $100,000 to Jay S. Schneider, PhD, Professor of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology and Neurology and Director of the Parkinson’s Disease Research Unit at Jefferson, to continue his research on Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Schneider’s laboratory is one of the few comprehensive Parkinson’s research facilities of its kind and the only one in the region. In 1998, the Foundation supported Dr. Schneider’s research with a grant of $60,000. Through the years, the Foundation, based in Morristown, New Jersey, has provided Jefferson with a total of $219,000 in support.

Foundation Doubles its Support of Scholarship Fund at CHP
With a recent $100,000 gift, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation has expanded its support of its William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship Fund, which benefits academically qualified, economically disadvantaged minority students at the College of Health Professions.

In 1990, the Foundation initiated the scholarship fund and, through 1993, provided a total of $100,000. With this latest award, the Foundation’s generosity to CHP has reached $200,000. To date, 20 CHP students have received Hearst Scholarships.

“We are honored that the Foundation continues to recognize the excellence of the College and its students,” said Lawrence Abrams, EdD, Dean of CHP. “Since so many of our students receive financial aid, gifts from private sources such as the William Randolph Hearst Foundation are essential and greatly appreciated.”

The Foundation was established in 1948 by publisher and philanthropist William Randolph Hearst.

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