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 Dear Friends:
The 2006/07 season in Palm Beach was abuzz
with activity. A busy fundraising season helped
us welcome many new friends and supporters to
our CFXF community. Thanks to the generosity
of Mrs. ViWerner, our annual Palm Beach event in February was
a tremendous success. Vi has been one of our most passionate
and generous supporters since the inception of CFXF – A very
special thank you to Vi. Next year, new board member Beverly
Robbins and her husband, Edwin, have agreed to host our annual
Palm Beach event on Sunday, February 3, 2008 at their home.
Dr. Nick Jones, a fragile X grandparent and Georgia dentist,
recently held a very successful fundraiser for our benefit at his
home in Atlanta. We are very grateful for his support and that of
all our donors.
In April, over a year of hard work and planning culminated in the
first Florida Fragile X Research Conference – “From Mechanisms
to Medicine”. I had long known of the desire within the fragile
X research community for a meeting in which newer, more junior
fragile X investigators were provided an opportunity to present
their work to their peers and to senior investigators. However,
CFXF lacked a local partner until The Scripps Research Institute
moved to South Florida. When our fragile X research |
collaboration with Scripps Florida began last year, we raised the
issue of such a conference in South Florida and found our willing
co-host. The conference organizing committee worked together
for over a year to make this dream a reality. Many thanks to
Barbara Noble, The Director of the Office of External Affairs at
Scripps Florida for the support she provided at so many levels. A
thank you also goes to Mr. Stuart Geiger, Senior Global Product
Manager of Abbott Molecular, for his support of our first
conference. Very special thanks to our guest speakers, Dr. David
Nelson, Dr. Fabrizio Gasparini and Dr. Randall Carpenter. Their
enthusiastic participation made this a very special meeting. Read
more about the conference in this newsletter.
InMay, I was honored to be re-appointed to a second term on the
President’s Council on Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and I
will serve the next two years with as much enthusiasm and energy
as the gravity of this task demands. Without reservation, I can tell
you that I am truly humbled by the dedication and enthusiasm
each and every member of the Council brings to the discussion.
They work tirelessly to inform the national dialogue on persons
with intellectual disabilities with their own unique experiences
and knowledge. I look forward to continue the work to bring
fragile X into the national spotlight.
Again, thank you all for your support throughout the year. Enjoy
your summer!
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At the recent Florida Fragile X Research Conference, the
Dorothea Dix Humanitarian award was presented to Harris Hollin. Making the presentation for Elwyn Executive Director,
Dr. Sandra Cornelius, was Brenda Finucane, (with the enthusiastic help of Matthew Hollin) who discussed Harris’
unique contributions to Elwyn over the years. Harris has been a very active supporter of Elwyn for many years, long before his
grandson, Matthew was born with fragile X. Harris joins the
ranks of prior award winners Edward Zigler, Ginny Thornburg,
former first lady of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
Alfred A. Baumeister, as one of an elite group of exceptionally
giving individuals. Congratulations, Harris.
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