Swifty began in 2014 after the death of Michael Gustafson. Before his death he created his “Master Plan”….his decision to donate his tumor tissue to research. Michael’s Master Plan ultimately led Swifty to develop the Gift from a Child program: a national post-mortem (PM) brain tumor donation program benefitting research.
Since 2017 it’s been Swifty and Gift from a Child…Together Toward Hope. Michael’s Master Plan became Swifty’s Master Plan because there was no national, coordinated donation program. Since 2018 we’ve created the infrastructure to access, process and share post-mortem tissue.
However, the research that happens after the tissue is donated is just as important as the tissue itself. So now in 2024, Gift from a Child has become a program of the Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN).
CBTN’s focus is to maximize donated tissue’s potential to accelerate breakthroughs in treatments. CBTN provides free and open access to PM tissue and its data to the worldwide research community.
To learn more about CBTN
A bit of history as to how did we do it…
In 2017 we gathered families who’d lost a child to brain cancer, and the best researchers/clinicians around the country who were helping families donate PM tissue locally. We nurtured relationships, hammered out logistics, developed workflows, overcame obstacles and eventually Gift from a Child was born. GFAC is a network of seven Centers of Excellence around the country. These seven centers act as regional autopsy sites for the coordination, processing and storage of autopsied materials as well as generating preclinical models of the disease. Those donations are stored and accessible at the Children’s Brain Tumor Network.
Michael’s Story
Before his death at 15, Michael Gustafson hatched what he called his “master plan” – and laid the foundation for what Swifty does today.
Gift from a Child
Tissue donation is a contribution that improves outcomes for children with brain cancer that only families can make.
Recurrent Medulloblastoma
The impact of Michael’s gift and the gifts of Swifty supporters continue to create a tidal wave of impact. It’s time to celebrate and invite you to help us keep the ripples rolling.
Once you choose HOPE, anything is possible
Together we’re moving toward hope one initiative at a time.
Disturbing Facts About Childhood Cancer
Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death BY DISEASE for children in the U.S. …. It exceeds deaths by all other diseases combined. Only 8 pennies of every FEDERAL dollar available for cancer research goes to fund PEDIATRIC cancer research.
How is brain cancer different in kids?
All brain tumors can change in response to cancer treatment – but this is especially true for kids, whose bodies are growing and changing anyway. You could be diagnosed with one type of cancer, but have a very different type years later.
To improve treatments, researchers need to better understand the ways kids’ cancers change and transform over time. This means studying as much donated tissue as possible, from as many cancer stages as possible.
But it’s often difficult for families to donate tissue for research – and when they do donate, it’s difficult for researchers to share their findings widely. Swifty is helping to change that.