News & Events

December 2009

Dear Friends,

As we near the close of a tumultuous year for the world economy, we have all been affected in one way or another.  Sick children particularly suffer under these circumstances.  Fortunately, CMCF’s mission – helping children fight illness and disease – remains vibrant and strong.  We continue to offer pediatric fellowship training positions to doctors from around the world.  CMCF fellowships increase the awareness of and provide education in the latest treatment techniques and proven cures.  There is nothing more fulfilling than saving a child’s life: providing hope and an opportunity for their future contributions to society.

CMCF has undergone a period of transition in the past two years.  We lost three true humanitarians and philanthropists who were responsible for founding our organization and making it successful.  Dr. Stefan P. and Mrs. Wanda Wilk will be sorely missed, but their passion for making a difference in children’s lives will live on.  Professor Joan Hodgman was well known as the ‘Mother of Modern Neonatology’ and has inspired many able physicians to follow in her footsteps.  All three will continue to guide us from above.  Let’s work together to continue their legacy.

We have been busy making progress on many fronts.  We recently hired a Foundation Administrator, secured new office space and revitalized our mission, vision and strategic plan.  We have established a training program specializing in intestinal rehabilitation and transplantation procedures with Professor Piotr Kalicinski, medical director of the Transplant Program at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw, Poland.  We have also established a Baltic Program in partnership with the Children’s University Hospital in Riga, Latvia.  As a result, CMCF will support Dr. Marita Grutupa for a two-month fellowship in bone marrow transplantation at the Charité Campus Virchow-Klinikum in Berlin, Germany. 

Drs. Lyudmyla Tachynska and Svitlana Vaskavets from Ternopil, Ukraine recently trained at the CMCF established “Center of Excellence” at the Medical University of Warsaw under the direction of Professor Maria Kornacka, head of the neonatology department.  Additionally, Dr. Iwona Janczewska, neonatologist from the Medical University of Gdansk has been accepted for a two-month fellowship at Columbia Medical University in New York. 

We are also extraordinarily proud of former CMCF fellow, Dr. Anna Raciborska, who trained at three locations: St. Jude Hospital in Memphis, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Sloane-Kettering in New York.  Dr. Raciborska has now become the leading expert in Pediatric Ewing Bone Carcinoma and recently conducted a symposium for 70 other oncologists from all over Poland. 

None of this would be possible without your support.  Please consider taking a moment to continue your charitable giving for the benefit of children.  On behalf of the Board of Trustees and Directors, I send you our best wishes for a joyous holiday season filled with many blessings and bountiful prosperity.

Yours truly,

Bjoern Martinoff, President

Board of Trustees and Directors