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Dr. Jonathan Finlay to Receive the Inaugural “Medical Visionary Award” from the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation

CONTACT:  Steve Rutledge at (323) 361-4121

International authority in the management of children with brain tumors is director
of the Neural Tumors Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – Jonathan Finlay, M.D., director of the Neural Tumors Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and professor of pediatrics, neurology and neurosurgery at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, will receive the “Medical Visionary Award” at the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation’s (CBTF) inaugural event, the Los Angeles Dreams and Promise Gala, on October 22, 2009, at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

“If a ‘visionary’ is one who dreams of what can be, and is determined to do all he can to make it a reality, then I will indeed privileged to receive this honor,” said Dr. Finlay,  “…for that has always been my goal in my care of children who have been diagnosed with brain tumors.

Internationally recognized as a leading authority in the management of children with brain tumors, Dr. Finlay joined Childrens Hospital Los Angeles in 2003 as the director of the Neural Tumors Program.

Dr. Finlay has authored or co-authored more than 260 peer-reviewed publications in leading medical journals, as well as over 75 review articles and book chapters.  He has delivered more than 250 invited lectures worldwide, and he has mentored over 80 undergraduate students, medical students, medical and pediatric residents and fellows in clinical research projects.

Prior to his appointment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Finlay was the director of the Division of Pediatric Oncology and the Hassenfeld Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases of Childhood at New York University Medical Center, and a professor of pediatrics at New York University.

He previously served as vice chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and associate professor of pediatrics at Cornell University Medical College; and as a senior physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Finlay earned a bachelor’s degree and his medical degree from Birmingham University in his native England in 1973.  He served a residency in pediatrics at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, as well as training in pediatric oncology at the Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute in Manchester, England, before moving to the United States.

He was a fellow in pediatric immunology (1976-78) and pediatric hematology-oncology (1978-80) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. Finlay and his wife, Adriana, live in Studio City, California.

Founded in 1988, the mission of the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation is to improve the treatment, quality of life and long-term outlook for children with brain and spinal cord tumors, through funding research, education and advocacy for families and survivors.  CBTF has awarded more than $6 million in grants to leading institutions throughout the United States for research on the causes of and treatments for pediatric brain and spinal cord tumors, and funds fellowships in pediatric neuro-oncology at leading medical centers throughout the country.  For more information go to www.cbtf.org.

Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America’s premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932.  The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. 

Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report and its panel of board-certified pediatricians have named Childrens Hospital Los Angeles one of the top pediatric facilities in the nation.  Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of only 10 children’s hospitals in the nation – and the only children’s hospital on the West Coast – ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties in the U.S. News & World Report rankings and named to the magazine’s “Honor Roll” of children’s hospitals.