NEW YORK, NY – Greenwich resident Stuart Berni will be honored at the Israel Cancer Research Fund’s Fourth Annual Heroes for Hope Gala to be held Nov. 17, 6 p.m. at the Hilton Stamford. Stamford Mayor David Martin is the evening’s honorary chairman. Dr. Tali Lando Aronoff, a pediatric otolaryngology surgeon, is guest speaker. 

Berni is currently managing partner and CEO of The Berni Companies, a Greenwich-based real estate outfit, as well as the owner and manager of residential and commercial properties in Connecticut and New York. 

He is active in Israel Bonds, and is active in the Greenwich UJA and JCC.  For the past decade he has served as a board member and advisor to the international board of the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF), helping the organization to raise funds to support the world-class research of Israeli scientists in their search to find new treatments and cures for cancer. 

Involved in the broader community, Berni is a founding family and board member of the Greenwich Teen Center, and helped initiate the Greenwich Point Conservatory and served a Conservatory board and advisory member. He is also a supporter of of Kids in Crisis, Yale-New Haven Greenwich Hospital, Cambodian Children’s Fund, Clothes to Kids, and several homeless shelters in Stamford. He has mentored underserved children in Stamford for more than 20 years. 

“To talk to Stuart for five minutes about his philanthropy, and especially about ICRF, is to be immediately struck by his passion for giving back, and ICRF is a cause closest to his heart,” said Dr. Leslie Freedman, ICRF Connecticut Chapter chairman. “When Stuart is committed  to a cause like ICRF, he is tireless in his efforts on its behalf.”

The evening’s guest speaker, Dr. Tali Lando Aronoff,  practices in Ardsley, New York. She is the author of Hell and Back: Wife & Mother, Doctor & Patient, Dragon Slayer, which chronicles her journey with breast cancer and helps survivors and their families navigate the complex issues of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The Israel Cancer Research Fund is the largest single source of private funds for cancer research in Israel. With the 2019/2020 grants, ICRF funding has now reached more than $72 million since the organization’s founding in 1975. A total of 69 grants will be funded this year at ten different institutions in Israel.

Among the areas of focus for ICRF funding this year are cancer genetics, targeted cancer therapies and immunotherapy. Three grants to study immunotherapy were funded as part of a collaboration between ICRF and the Cancer Research Institute, which is a preeminent funder of immunotherapy research in the U.S. ICRF has a long history of supporting fundamental laboratory science that provides the foundation for work with clinical impact. In addition, early phase studies that seek to characterize the potential for clinical impact in the care of patients with specific tumor types have been funded as well. Three new awards for collaborative work between Israeli investigators and cancer scientists at the City of Hope National Medical Center in California were also announced. 

“We are honored to support the work of Israel’s brilliant scientists to enable them to carry on their life-saving work,’’ said ICRF International Executive Director Dr. Mark Israel. “The rate of discovery in cancer research is accelerating and Israel has become a major source of innovation in the understanding and treatment of cancer. As a result of our rigorous scientific review and selection process, we have provided funding to propel the careers of some of the leading cancer researchers, including Professor Howard Cedar and Nobel Prize-winning scientists Drs. Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover.”   

For more information, contact David Kweskin at (203) 321-1006, or David.Kweskin@icrfonline.org, or register at www.icrfctgala.org.