Searching for a Cure for Rare Brain Cancer

The Meadows family are no strangers to fundraising. 

What started as a backyard football game on Thanksgiving Day morning in 1989 has since become an annual event – the Meadows Turkey Bowl – that raises money for people in need who are navigating a cancer diagnosis.

But in January of 2020, the Ohio family’s efforts became more personal when son Pete was diagnosed with oligodendroglioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

That’s when the family decided they wanted to cure oligodendroglioma, said Mike Meadows.

The family’s generous support established the Gianna Rae Meadows Fund named in honor of the baby that Pete’s wife lost in 2022 when she was close to her due date. The fund sponsors UC San Francisco Brain Tumor Center researchers studying these tumors.

“There’s often not enough funding from the federal government to support research,” said UCSF neurosurgery professor and BTC principal investigator Joseph Costello, PhD, “so philanthropic support really helps us pursue projects that have the potential to yield major advances in our understanding of these tumors.”

For example, Costello’s lab is using a new tumor sampling approach and deep sequencing methods to develop 3D models of the tumors. This work is helping scientists identify the genetic and cellular signaling events that help the tumors form and keep growing as well as new potential therapeutic targets.

 As UCSF investigators continue working to develop novel therapies for treating patients with oligodendroglioma, they will be partnering with colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic.

In the meantime, preparations for the next Meadows grant are already starting. The Meadows Turkey Bowl raised a record $637,000 last year, and the family hopes to surpass that total this year. 

 Support the Gianna Rae Meadows fund by donating to the Meadows Turkey Bowl.