A Future Without Brain Tumors Relies on Your Unwavering Support
The need to accelerate groundbreaking research and expand patient care services has never been greater. Brain tumors remain incredibly difficult to treat due to the blood-brain barrier and its profound resistance to standard treatments. While progress has been made, more must be done.
Robert Johnson
Pituitary Survivor & ABTA Mentor
Melanie Johnson
Caregiver & ABTA Mentor
Katie Groetsema
GBM Survivor & Family
Paul McDowell
GBM Survivor & ABTA Mentor
Tracy Sefcik
Meningioma Survivor
Susan Chang, MD
Neuro-oncologist, Brain Tumor Center, UCSF
Professor, Division of Neuro-Oncology, UCSF
Robert Johnson | Pituitary Survivor & ABTA Mentor
Melanie Johnson | Caregiver & ABTA Mentor
Katie Groetsema | GBM Survivor & Family
Tracy Sefcik | Meningioma Survivor
Susan Chang, MD | Neuro-oncologist, Brain Tumor Center, UCSF
Professor, Division of Neuro-Oncology, UCSF
A Future Without Brain Tumors Relies on Your Unwavering Support
The need to accelerate groundbreaking research and expand patient care services has never been greater. Brain tumors remain incredibly difficult to treat due to the blood-brain barrier and its profound resistance to standard treatments. While progress has been made, more must be done.
The Brain Tumor Community
Needs Your Help
Hear how you can help change lives

BRAIN TUMORS ARE RELENTLESS
1.1 million children & adults
primary or metastatic brain tumor.
800+ children & adults
18,000+ adults
brain and CNS tumors this year.
Brain cancer
is the 10th leading cause of cancer death in adults and the #1 cause of cancer death in children.
Only 3 new treatments
discovered in the past 20 years.
We See Hope on the Horizon
Meet Hope Head On is a five-year $50-million campaign that will give us the resources we need to triple our research investment, double the patients we serve, and double federal funding for brain tumor research.
We are determined to meet hope head on.
Ralph DeVitto |
President & CEO, ABTA
Ram Subramanian |
Chair of the Board, ABTA
Now, imagine you helped create it
Susan Kramer |
Founder, ABTA
Now, imagine you helped create it
Sabine Schwab |
Anaplastic Astrocytoma Survivor & Advocate
Now, imagine you helped create it
Chad Schafer |
Advocate & Former Caregiver
Together, We Can Do This | Our 5-Year Plan
Why: The fastest path to a cure is through science
- Increase funding to foster early-career researchers to pursue high-risk, high-reward research
- Establish a flexible fund to support innovative research
- Invest in large research projects through financial collaboration
- Enhance the ABTA Alumni Research Network to accelerate scientific exchange
Why: To put hope in the hands of all who need it
- Engage and empower underserved communities
- Break down barriers to brain tumor education and resources
- Provide adolescent and young adult education and support
Why: To ensure there’s a patient voice at the center of federal policy initiatives
- Mobilize advocates to increase awareness and influence federal funding
- Strengthen partnerships with organizations and federal agencies
- Impact legislation initiatives
Why: The fastest path to a cure is through science
- Increase funding to foster early-career researchers to pursue high-risk, high-reward research
- Establish a flexible fund to support innovative research
- Invest in large research projects through financial collaboration
- Enhance the ABTA Alumni Research Network to accelerate scientific exchange
Why: To put hope in the hands of all who need it
- Engage and empower underserved communities
- Break down barriers to brain tumor education and resources
- Provide adolescent and young adult education and support
Why: To ensure there’s a patient voice at the center of federal policy initiatives
- Mobilize advocates to increase awareness and influence federal funding
- Strengthen partnerships with organizations and federal agencies
- Impact legislation initiatives
To learn more about major gift funding opportunities, contact hope@abta.org.
Help Us Meet Hope Head On
Your support turns hope into action
Five years and $50 million means an extension of life for many patients and an improved quality of life for many patients and their families. It’s just that simple.”
Associate Professor, Neurological Surgery, UCSF

Help change lives; give now

How your donation matters
Accelerates high-risk, high-impact research; $34 million invested
Seeds generations of innovative researchers who have the potential to transform the understanding and treatment of brain tumors; 700 researchers funded
Provides life-changing emotional and educational assistance for patients and caregivers across all ages and tumor types; 100,000+ supported annually
Helps influence government funding of all types of brain tumor research
Increases disease awareness, education, and advocacy
Really, the answer comes in research. It’s the research that enables us to better understand this disease, unlock the mysteries behind why the disease forms, how it behaves, and how it could affect the lifespan of an individual.”
Mitchel Berger, MD,
Director, Brain Tumor Center, UCSF
ABTA Board of Directors
This is such an essential organization to help people like me, to provide community, to provide answers to scientific questions, to provide comfort, to provide so much of what a brain tumor patient needs.”
Paul McDowell,
GBM Survivor & ABTA Mentor
Through the ABTA CareLine, whether you are newly diagnosed or dealing with a recurrence, you can contact a professional to seek help and support for your needs.”
Ram Subramanian,
Chair of the Board, ABTA
The ABTA was absolutely pivotal in getting my research career off the ground. And because of them, I was able to grow my research enterprise into a very large group that pursues a lot of meaningful research for a lot of different kinds of cancer.”
Craig Horbinski, MD, PhD,
Director, Neuropathology Division, Northwestern
Director, Northwestern Nervous System Tumor Bank
We need the technology; we need the research; we need a way for patients to get the care quicker than the time it’s taking.”
Melanie Johnson,
Caregiver & ABTA Mentor
Really, the answer comes in research. It’s the research that enables us to better understand this disease, unlock the mysteries behind why the disease forms, how it behaves, and how it could affect the lifespan of an individual.”
Mitchel Berger, MD,
Director, Brain Tumor Center, UCSF
ABTA Board of Directors
This is such an essential organization to help people like me, to provide community, to provide answers to scientific questions, to provide comfort, to provide so much of what a brain tumor patient needs.”
Paul McDowell,
GBM Survivor & ABTA Mentor
Through the ABTA CareLine, whether you are newly diagnosed or dealing with a recurrence, you can contact a professional to seek help and support for your needs.”
Ram Subramanian,
Chair of the Board, ABTA
The ABTA was absolutely pivotal in getting my research career off the ground. And because of them, I was able to grow my research enterprise into a very large group that pursues a lot of meaningful research for a lot of different kinds of cancer.”
Craig Horbinski, MD, PhD,
Director, Neuropathology Division, Northwestern
Director, Northwestern Nervous System Tumor Bank
We need the technology; we need the research; we need a way for patients to get the care quicker than the time it’s taking.”
Melanie Johnson,
Caregiver & ABTA Mentor
How has a brain tumor touched your life? Whether you’re newly diagnosed, a long-time survivor or a caregiver, we want to hear from you!
A Future Without Brain Tumors Relies on Your Unwavering Support
The need to accelerate groundbreaking research and expand patient care services has never been greater. Brain tumors remain incredibly difficult to treat due to the blood-brain barrier and its profound resistance to standard treatments. While progress has been made, more must be done.