Post originally shared by Kate on LinkedIn: 

Feeling extremely thankful, blessed, honored and energized from my first Congress of Neurological Surgeons meeting this week. Some highlights that made the trip truly exceptional:

- Spending time with my A1 since day 1 in this journey, Andrew Sloan, MD, MBA, FACS. It means so much to me that we’re able to explore the best way to bring this to patients together. 

- Meeting linton evans in person for the first time and discussing our upcoming pig study at Dartmouth funded by the MUSELLA FOUNDATION FOR BRAIN TUMOR RESEARCH & INFORMATION INC led by Al Musella. 

- Meeting Ganesh Rao in person for the first time who already explored this treatment paradigm in mice demonstrating blood brain barrier permeability. 

- Seeing R Morgan Stuart and Brad Zacharia who both gave me encouragement in March of 2023 which directly led to me crossing paths with David later that week and starting DNKO last year. 

- Speaking with the leaders of 5+ major medical institutions that are interested in being clinical trial sites when the time comes.

- Meeting with Darren Rhea, who upon learning a family member had a Glioblastoma dove into action learning every treatment with any bit of science behind it offering hope. 

- Hearing that if a surgeon had our drug last week he would have used it on a case where he knew he could only address 80% of the tumor with LITT alone and surgery wasn’t an option. 

- Representing OurBrainBank for Glioblastoma and our plans for passive data collection with patients as a predictor for recurrence with Imvax, Inc. Gregory Grevera & Plus Therapeutics, Inc.

- Meeting Glioblastoma Foundation, located in Durham near David’s lab (in the same building to boot!).

- Catching up with folks I met at SNO last year; Alireza Mansouri, Richard Tyc & Christa Seligman MSN, APRN. 

- Meeting so many wonderful individuals who I’ve crossed paths with by email or social media that I look forward to speaking with again.

There's such a rich history here from what David Needham invented nearly 30 years ago. It’s an honor to be among the highest caliber individuals as we navigate the best path forward for patients. The field is so passionate. The novelty of the role I get to play here is not lost on me. I didn’t take nearly enough pictures this trip, I enjoyed every moment. I’m beyond inspired and motivated to see this through. Thank you to the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) event organizers, see you next year in LA!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Help accelerate our studies by donating via the Musella Foundation DNKO Fund

On our 1 year anniversary of launching DNKO, we received our first grant of $50k to support our preclinical LITT + LTSL-Dox study which will begin in August 2024 with our Dartmouth School of Medicine collaborators. 

Our next milestone is to raise $2.27M for supplementary preclinical studies as needed and a Phase I in recurrent GBM patients. 

Kate met with physicans and organizations on behalf of OurBrainBank and DNKO.