The Moores UCSD Cancer Center: Saving Lives, and Families
Alyson Nguyen twirled a flower in her hands in the too-tall chair, unaware of the emotion that charged her father’s talk at on June 8, 2007. The day marked the achievement of the $1 billion goal of The Campaign for UCSD.

That day also offered Robert Nguyen an opportunity to thank donors who support the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center for saving his young daughter’s life. When Alyson was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, chemotherapy wasn’t an option. Only the Cancer Center offered the leading edge technology that allowed radiation to be administered precisely where it was needed, without destroying healthy tissue.

“With community support, UCSD can help more families win this horrific battle against cancer,” Nguyen added.

Local Surfing Community Supports UC San Diego’s Innovative Spinal Cord Regeneration Research
With unsteady hands, surfing enthusiast Tony Mezzadri handed a $17,000 check to Mark Tuszynski, M.D., Ph.D., head of UC San Diego’s Center for Neural Repair and the Translational Spinal Cord Regeneration Research Program. The donation – raised through the 2007 Tony Mezzadri Surf Classic – will help support research into spinal cord regeneration for those who have become paralyzed due to injury. Mezzadri, more than anyone,, understands the effects such an injury can have on one’s life. Mezzadri is paralyzed from the neck down. 

Gifts, large and small, are funding promising research that may enable those suffering from paralysis to regain additional motion in their limbs.