Category Archives: News

This national funding initiative expands the Foundation’s investments in support of cutting-edge MDS research and related programs that will lead to the future standards of care and ultimately cure, by facilitating the advancement of innovative basic science, translational or clinical research.

Early Career Awards will provide funding of up to $125,000 per year for two years and Established Investigator Awards will provide funding of up to $250,000 per year for two years.

Letters of Inquiry (LOI) from 501(c) (3) institutions must be received no later than Friday, March 30, 2018 (5 pm EDT). The LOI must be submitted via the online MDS grant application on the Dresner Foundation website MDSRF Guidelines. Full proposals are by invitation only.

The Dresner Foundation announced that Virginia Romano has been appointed Executive Director.

Ms. Romano joined the Foundation in 2014. She has since served as the Managing Director of Programs.

The Foundation’s Board of Directors stated, “after thoughtful consideration, the decision to promote Virginia to executive director was due to her unique combination of extensive experience and knowledge of the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.”

The Foundation also announced that board member Kevin Furlong will serve as the Board of Directors’ Chair, as well as, the Foundation’s Chief Financial Officer.

The Dresner Soul Studio grand opening was held on May 9, 2016. The Soul Studio provides young adults with special needs an opportunity to express themselves creatively through various artistic forms.

The MHS Dresner Foundation Animal Care Campus was dedicated on May 19, 2016. The Care Campus offers progressive animal care and housing, an expanded veterinary center, a new home for the MHS Cruelty Investigation and Rescue Department, dedicated canine and feline rehabilitation areas and secure and spacious shelter dog play yards.

Our Grant to the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program was selected for highlight in the Hall of Outsized Impact at the recent Exponet Philanthropy Conference in Chicago, IL. Click here to see the rest of the highlighted grants!

The 826michigan Detroit Robot Factory ribbon cutting was held on October 5, 2016 complete with flowers and snacks, hard hats for the little ones, joyous sounds from the Detroit Party Marching Band, and even a giant metal bear on wheels. Detroit student author Cassidy Vega did the honors of cutting a giant red ribbon with 826 co-founder Dave Eggers looking on, and the party continued inside our new tutoring and writing lab upstairs.

The Dresner Foundation Board of Directors announced the appointment of Mikkael Aaron Sekeres, MD, MS, as the Chair of the Foundation’s Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) Research Fund. This national initiative will provide grant support for innovative MDS basic science, clinical and translational research.

“Dr. Sekeres’ energy, experience and passion for this field of work immediately captured the attention of the Directors, who unanimously selected him as the inaugural Chair,” said Lori Dresner, Board President. “Dr. Sekeres aligned with our goal of engaging a national thought leader with demonstrated scientific credibility to advance the understanding and treatment of MDS and related blood disorders and its cure.”

Dr. Sekeres is a Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Director of the Leukemia Program and Vice-Chair for Clinical Research at the Cleveland Clinic – Taussig Cancer Center. He holds a B.A. in Biology, Master’s of Science in Clinical Epidemiology, and M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Hematology-Oncology Fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, both Harvard University affiliated institutions.

“I am honored and humbled to have been selected to help translate Joseph Dresner’s vision for research in MDS into the next generation of exciting therapies and potential cures.”

Dr. Sekeres formally assumed this role January 1, 2017.

For more information, please contact Virginia Romano, Dresner Foundation, 248-785-0299.