“Connor had an amazing life, but he was also robbed of his chance to live his life,” says Liz Dawes, Connor’s mother. So within weeks of his passing, the Dawes family started the RCD Foundation in his honor. And they knew exactly where the funds should go.
“After Connor passed, it just made sense to learn more about and support CERN’s projects,” Liz says.
With Connor in mind, the family is helping fund two substantial projects led by Terri Armstrong, Ph.D., head of Patient Outcomes and Symptom Management projects for the CERN Foundation.
The first project is the re-printing of the one-of-a-kind
Ependymoma Guide. It is a “soup to nuts” primer on every aspect of ependymoma – from diagnosis to treatments and how to manage symptoms through each phase of care.
The RCD Foundation is also supporting to the CERN Foundation’s Risk Project, which intends to answer the one question that plagues most all patients: Why did this happen to me?
“We are excited about this project because parents are really interested in the why,” Liz says. “We want our money to drive more and better research. And to energize scientists to collaborate. Ependymoma is not going to be cured in one country or in one lab.”
