Dr. Mitch Berger, the neurosurgeon who performed an exploratory craniotomy on me last November, and Dr. Susan Chang, my neuro-oncologist were 2 of the presenters at an event highlighting recent advances in brain tumor research and treatment at UCSF.

The presentation, held at UCSF’s new Mission Bay campus last Friday, highlighted more than a dozen promising research areas, including ‘translational technologies’ – techniques that can speed the movement of research from the lab into the clinic.

A common theme, unfortunately, has been the great reduction in NIH and other federal grants to fund this work: Iraq, it would seem, is a huge sink for money that would otherwise be saving, rather than taking lives. We attended with friends Terye, Cathy and Mike – Cathy gave me a lift in her cool, new PT Cruiser – and we later ate at Fringale where Terye’s husband Jacob joined the group…

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