CTBTA's Impact
Since its founding in 2006, CTBTA has raised and donated over $1.8 million dollars.These funds provide direct support to brain tumor patients and families, while also advancing research and improving quality of care.
“Thanks to CTBTA’s support, we’ve been able to assist a teen boy diagnosed with craniopharyngioma. Since this type of brain tumor is not technically classified as cancer, his family didn’t qualify for cancer-specific funds. Thankfully, your support includes all brain tumor patients, and we were able to use the funds to assist the family with lodging for proton radiation in Boston. This assistance took a huge burden off this family and the patient has successfully completed treatment.”
— Yale Brain Tumor Center
CTBTA's impact takes on many forms — from research identifying the molecular structure of brain tumor cells to purchasing cinema-vision goggles for pediatric MRI patients. All contribute to the organization’s primary vision:To make Connecticut a center of excellence in brain tumor care.
Help us fulfill the vision:
What We Fund
CTBTA works in partnership with the following hospitals and brain cancer centers:
- Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
- Hartford Hospital
- Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center
- Yale Brain Tumor Center
- UConn Health
“The CTBTA has provided crucial research supporting our efforts to identify molecular characteristics of brain tumor cells, which will hopefully lead to new and exciting treatment advances.”
— Hartford Hospital
Working with our partner organizations and their medical teams, CTBTA provides critical support in the following areas:
- Patient Outreach: Connecting one-on-one with patients and family members, providing emotional support and connecting them to resources
- Patient Assistance: Providing financial assistance to patients and families for living expenses
- Brain Tumor Research: We support both pediatric and adult brain tumor research to improve treatment options, heighten researchers' and medical teams' understanding of brain tumors, propel brain tumor research, and provide the seed-funding for a potential cure.
- Brain Tumor Support Program: Our funds support nurse navigators and specialized medical equipment to improve patient comfort and the effectiveness of the diagnostic and treatment procedures.
Advancing the Vision: Recent Activities
In the past year, Connecticut has made exciting advances in research and treatments:
- Now, every patient is assigned a nurse-navigator at the point of diagnosis. The nurse-navigator guides the patient and family through the treatment process, ensuring that their emotional and social needs are met.
- Research with our partner organizations has advanced the understanding of brain tumor genomics and offered patients clinical trials.
- Connecticut patients and families now receive financial relief for daily living expenses, allowing them to focus on treatment and recovery.
“We had several notable publications and presentations in 2020 related to our understanding of the clinical correlations of brain tumor genomics. We are fortunate to perform advanced mutational analysis on all patients at Yale and funding from last year’s donations from the CTBTA helped support these correlative efforts.”
— Yale Brain Tumor Center