Leavin the hood

I paid for it the next day, but I made it out of Washington Heights on Wednesday night. I took a car service down and met my family at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. We were guests at a small reception MSKCC holds every year to honor the Group Affiliates that raise money for their research efforts. There is always a keynote speaker and it's a real privilege to gather in such an intimate setting and hear about some of the latest advances.

Two years ago I was seated next to the keynote speaker during dinner. He was a normal guy and we casually chatted about his recent trip to New Zealand. When he stood up to address the group I learned that he was basically the man who invented the modern bone marrow transplant procedure. He is literally responsible for saving the lives of thousands and thousands of children. (Oh yea? Children with cancer, huh? Well I convince people to buy things they don't need. Where would the economy be without me?! Where would people get the money to pay for your fancy cancer medicine? Ask yourself that, my friend.)

Wednesday night's speakers educated us on the latest in gene therapy, and it's clear that amazing developments are just on the horizon. Treatments are about to get much more targeted, precious time will be wasted far less frequently and doctors will have the ability to manage many types of cancers as chronic conditions for very long periods of time. Think HIV - no longer lethal as long as it's managed with the right drugs. One of the speakers focused on a lung cancer example, and it made me sad that my dad couldn't have benefited from some of the new treatments now available such a short time after his death.

Anyway - it got us inspired for this year's Fifth Annual Bud Traynor Classic. For those that don't know, it will be played at Bethpage on Monday, August 6th and as always, we will donate the proceeds to MSKCC's research programs.

Vaguely related side note, the Chief of Neurosurgery at MSKCC is one of the doctors I consulted with when selecting a surgeon to remove my acoustic neuroma. It goes without saying he was very accomplished and obviously a great guy, although I didn't ultimately select him. His celebrity lookalike was Steven Spielberg.

Dr. Philip Gutin on the left and Mr. Steven Spielberg on the right: