A kid gets his head shaved to raise money at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
A man plays the bagpipes at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
A barber prepares the clippers at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
A man gets his head shaved to raise money at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
Irish step dancers perform at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
Residents could win raffle prizes like the dolls above at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
A kid gets his head shaved to raise money at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
Rob Wilson provides entertainment at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
People get their heads shaved to raise money at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
Irish step dancers perform at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
A man gets his head shaved to raise money at the Centereach Civic Association’s head-shaving event for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Photo by Giselle Barkley
More than 100 people filed into the Centereach Fire Department on Washington Avenue to lose their locks and raise money for the Centereach Civic Association’s third annual St. Baldrick’s fundraiser on Friday.
Residents could shave their heads, volunteer, or simply donate money, at the four-hour fundraiser. Attendees also had the chance to enter various raffles and get a free dinner before heading home.
The civic hoped to raise $50,000 this year. Thus far it has raised more than $8,000 toward that goal, according to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, though it was unclear if that amount included what was raised on Friday. All proceeds go toward the foundation, which focuses on curing childhood cancers.
According to event disc jockey Rob Wilson, three businessmen established the foundation to help give back to those in need. Their success with the fundraiser inspired them to create the 17-year-old foundation and sparked an annual head-shaving tradition.
According to Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine, harmful chemicals are also found in telephone poles. Photo by Giselle Barkley
After four decades the government is finally updating the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 with partial thanks to Brookhaven Town officials.
President Gerald Ford signed the act decades ago to regulate the introduction of new chemicals into society, excluding those found in food, pesticides, tobacco, firearms, drugs and cosmetics. The act gave the United States Environmental Protection Agency the authority to require documentation of chemical substances to determine if the chemical is hazardous to humans. The 62,000 chemicals that existed before 1976 were grandfathered into the act and deemed safe for humans and the act wasn’t updated until last year.
The government amended the act with Toxic Substances Control Modernization Act of 2015. Its bill, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act updates the act and requires the EPA to establish a risk-based screening process for new chemicals. Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and his fellow town board officials proposed the bill, which states the EPA must determine if a certain amount of old or new chemicals are safe for humans by a certain deadline. The EPA will reprimand manufacturers who don’t comply with safety requirements by restricting or prohibiting the creation, processing, distribution and disposal of new chemicals.
The EPA did not return requests seeking comment by press time.
According to Romaine, the uptick in cancer cases, particularly breast cancer on the North Shore, over the years was troubling. With advancements in science and technology scientists have found that some of the chemicals previously deemed as safe actually pose potential health risks for humans. This includes development of cancers and endocrine and immune system-related complications among other issues.
“We have a concern about the high rates of cancer in children and we’re concerned because people are trying to get answers,” Romaine said.
There were around 142.7 cases of cancer in Suffolk County between 2000 and 2004 according to the National Cancer Institute. The cases increased to around 528 per 100,000 people between 2008 and 2012 according to the cancer institute’s State Cancer Profiles.
County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), who has focused on the environment and its health effects for more than a decade, said these chemicals could be particularly harmful to children and their health.
“When you’re exposed to something when you’re growing up … it stays in your body,” Anker said. “As you get older something may set off the cancer…It takes decades sometimes for cancer to evolve.”
In a 2008-2009 study from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, scientists found 300 pollutants in the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies. According to the study, children are more vulnerable to chemical pollutants in the environment because of their size and poorer immune systems.
According to Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) these chemicals are found in everyday products like soaps and toothpastes among other items used on a daily basis. There are around 85,000 chemicals that are currently in use. But Zeldin said “the flaws in TSCA have left many of these new chemicals untested and unregulated.”
While Zeldin said the government should update important bills like TSCA, it’s common for some acts to go untouched for several years while others are updated almost annually.
“There are certainly examples of both extremes,” Zeldin said. “TSCA happens to be an example of one of those bills that really should have been updated many years ago, if not decades ago.”
Michele Pincus, a breast cancer survivor, walks in the show. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Pink Aid Long Island hosted its second annual fashion show and luncheon to benefit victims of breast cancer at Mitchells|Marshs in Huntington on Thursday, Oct. 15.
Pink Aid is a nonprofit organization, with branches in Connecticut and Long Island and seeks to support breast cancer survivors and provide screenings to women in financial need.
Pink Aid’s grant programs provide services like free breast cancer screenings and help cover nonmedical expenses such as wigs, recovery garments and transportation for patients undergoing treatment.
The event featured a fashion show with models wearing Mitchells fall 2015 and spring 2016 lines. There were also silent and live auctions, where items ranging from a Gucci iPad case to a two-night stay at an inn in Ireland were prizes.
Allison Mitchell, president of Pink Aid Long Island, said she was proud of how this event has grown in just one year. Last year, the event raised more than $225,000 from its 300 attendees.
She said while they can only fit a certain number of people in the store for the event, they also had the option of an online auction this year for those who didn’t have a chance to reserve a ticket.
“Pink Aid helps women that are underinsured or not insured to get through their treatment and their diagnosis,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s really important we’re giving back to women here on Long Island right in our backyard [who] are struggling with treatment and keeping their families together.”
Mitchell’s husband Chris heads the Huntington store, previously known as Marshs, which is part of an independent family chain. “We own a retail store [here] with a lot of amazing clothes,” he said. “Women love clothes and this event allows us to have women come and support other women while having a fun day that is really a celebration.”
During the Celebration of Life portion of the fashion show, breast cancer survivors walk the runway in Mitchells after the professional models. The survivors are accompanied by an escort, specifically someone who supported them during their journey, according to Diana Mitchnick, co-chair of the Celebration of Life fashion show.
“I am going to walk this year,” she said. “I am very excited and a little nervous.”
Mitchnick said the entire event is uplifting, and that the room is filled with love and support: “Everyone who has been through the breast cancer journey knows how much help you need. Many people don’t have it and they need it.”
This year’s guest speaker was Marisa Acocella Marchetto, a breast cancer survivor and award-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist. Her graphic novel, “Cancer Vixen: A True Story,” follows her journey from when she discovered she had breast cancer through to the end of her treatment.
“What a positive impact you’ve made creating real positive change,” Marchetto said to the room. “You’ve made Strong Island ever stronger.”
The Village of Port Jefferson will be awash in pink all through October as part of John T. Mather Memorial Hospital’s breast cancer awareness and outreach called “Paint Port Pink.”
The event’s mission is to stress the importance of screening, early detection and education about breast cancer and to help raise funds for the Fortunato Breast Health Center Fund for the Uninsured at Mather. “Paint Port Pink allows Mather Hospital to build on our breast cancer outreach efforts by involving the entire community in a month-long campaign that is highly visible and offers important breast health information,” said Mather board member Judith Fortunato. Participating partners will distribute breast cancer education cards containing information on breast self-exams.
Paint Port Pink is presented by Astoria Bank with the support of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates, Long Island Physician Associates, LI Anesthesia Physicians, the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, People’s United Bank, Suffolk Plastic Surgeons, The Richard and Mary Morrison Foundation, A World of Pink, Empire National Bank, Gordon L. Seaman and Harborview Medical Services.
Many activities will be held throughout the month to bring the community together. To kick off the event, a Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held at Village Hall tonight (Oct. 1) at 6:30 p.m. Mayor Margot Garant and Mather board member Judith Fortunato will flip the switch to light up the Village Hall tree in pink lights. All are invited. Local schools will provide music, and a flock of pink flamingos will make an appearance.
At the same time, merchants will be displaying pink lights in their windows. The water in the downtown fountains will be “pinked” with environmentally safe dye. Village Hall, the Village Center, the Port Jefferson Ferry Terminal and MatherHospital will be illuminated by pink spotlights. Theatre Three’s marquee will blink with pink lights. In addition, pink banners will adorn the light poles and some restaurants will offer special pink drinks.
Through Oct. 31, several events will raise funds to benefit the Fund for the Uninsured at the Fortunato Breast Health Center as well as breast cancer treatment services at Mather. Students at Edna Louise Spear Elementary School will launch their “Your Change Can Make a Change” promotion, collecting change using the Center’s giant hourglass while Port Jefferson Middle School students will sell and wear pink shoe laces and Frisbees.
Earl L. Vandermeulen High School cheerleaders and the Student Organization will begin their “Flamingo Flocking” fundraising campaign. The pink plastic suburban icons will be placed on the lawns of friends and supporters along with a note explaining that friends or family paid to have them “flocked” and explaining that if they make a donation, the flock will migrate to any yard they choose.
The 9th annual Pink Rock Golf Classic at the Port Jefferson Country Club will be held on Oct. 5. Registration is at 11 a.m. followed by a barbecue lunch at 11:30 am and a shot gun start at 1 p.m.
Mather Hospital’s 50th annual Gala, One Enchanted Evening, will be held on Oct. 23 at the Hyatt Regency Long Island, Hauppauge, from 7 to 11 p.m. The gala will include the presentation of the Community Service Award and Theodore Roosevelt Awards for service to the hospital and the community.
Finally, on Oct. 29, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Director of Research David L. Spector, Ph.D., will speak about his research on “Searching for New Ways to Halt the Progression of Breast Cancer” at a free educational seminar at Mather Hospital’s new Long Island Anesthesia Physicians Conference Center starting at 6:30 p.m. For more information or to register, call 631-686-7878.
‘Victory at Ojai’ by Marge Governale. Image from North Shore Art Guild
Tales of survival and hope at North Shore Art Guild’s latest exhibit Mather Hospital has also teamed up with the North Shore Art Guild, the Village of Port Jefferson and the Port Jefferson Conservancy to present Artists United Against Breast Cancer, a juried art show currently on view at the Port Jefferson Village Center through Oct. 31. Featuring the works of more than 70 artists, the exhibit is inspired by the personal transformation, hope, love, fear, loss and victory associated with breast cancer. Choice of mediums included oil, acrylic, digital art, digital photographs and soft sculpture.
The show’s theme is “Victors of Survival, A Celebration of the Warrior Within Each of Us.” “Victors of Survival is not just about breast cancer. It’s about personal transformation, the person you become having faced the experience,” said Mac Titmus, vice president of the Art Guild and coordinator of the show. “It’s about the emergence of the warrior within, and the struggle that brings it forth. It’s about … how [the artists] choose to transform that passion into expression.”
Many of the artists in the show have been afflicted with breast cancer or have close family members who have.
One painting in the show stands out among the crowd. A woman stands atop a mountain, her arms raised in triumph. The woman is also the artist, Marge Governale of E. Setauket, and she is celebrating not only reaching the mountain’s summit, but surviving breast cancer. “It’s a painting of me right after I finished my treatment in October 2013, when I went with my daughter on a trip to Ojai, California,” said Governale.
In the painting, Governale’s hair is short, just growing back after chemotherapy. “I had not been exercising. My daughter said ‘let’s hike,’ and I made it the top of that mountain,” she said. It felt so good that I was able to get back to some of the things I loved after my treatment. That was a victory for me.”
“I only started painting because I had breast cancer,” she said. “Good things sometimes come from bad things.”
The winners were announced on Sept. 1. The judges included Judith Fortunato, Holly Gordon, Ward Hooper and Lori Horowitz.
Best in Show went to Len Sciacchitano for “What Will He Think.” “I remember the terror in my cousin’s eyes when she first told me she had cancer and a breast had to be removed. I can only imagine how she felt when she was faced with that diagnosis, the moment she heard, “You have breast cancer,” said Sciacchitano. “I’m sure it is a moment that remained in her mind for the rest of her life. I do not know how it feels and tried to visually imagine her emotions when she realized she needed major surgery and a portion of what she had known was being taken away,” he said.
Joanna Gazzola garnered first place for “Defiant Yet Vulnerable.” “I have had two friends and one relative who had cancer and who handled their illnesses with grit, determination and courage. One has survived for almost a decade so far and does walks to raise money for cancer research every year. The other two have passed, but provided so much inspiration to me,” said Gazzola. “I can only hope that I live and die with as much grace and thoughtfulness as they had,” said Gazzola.
Second place went to Zhen Guo for “Breasts are the Essence,” soft sculpture. Said Guo, “A woman’s breasts are symbolic of her multifaceted nature in many ways. They are the source of nourishment for infants, of warmth and security for her children, of sexuality and attractiveness for her mate. When they are injured, her whole being and all the people who know her are injured, too.”
Evelyn Adams, whose painting, “Unite & Fight For A Cure” won third place, said, “My mother passed away of breast cancer in 2008 at the age of 60. I became so mad with the disease. However, as time passed by, I began to accept the reality of the disease and now I really do support the fight for breast cancer. Showing my support, I expressed my view for a cure in a special way. I cast my hand and then incorporated clay made breast, and also placed over 100 pieces of pink ribbons around a pedestal in which represent all families who are coming together and bringing awareness to breast cancer.” She went on, “Therefore, my main idea of this piece is to encourage viewers, families who had a family member died of breast cancer and those who are fighting breast cancer of hope for a cure.”
Honorable mentions went to Bernadette De Nyse for “Mortality Realized,” Joanna Gazzola for “Conflict, Denial and Understanding,” Neil Leinwohl for “New Blooms,” Lynellen Nielsen for “Grace,” Susan Silkowitz for “Abuela” and Angela Stratton for “The Protector.”
The Port Jefferson Village Center is located at 101A. E. Broadway. An artist reception will be held on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 4 to 7 p.m. on the second level with raffles, blind auctions and art sales. All of the artists have agreed to donate 25 percent of any sales to support breast health care at the Fortunato Breast Health Center of Mather Hospital. For further information about the art show, call 631-802-2160.
North Shore natives travel to Washington with hopes of swaying lawmakers to renew health care benefits
John Feal speaks at the September 11 memorial ceremony in Commack last week. Photo by Brenda Lentsch
The 9/11 first responders who have fought for years to get health care support are heading back to Washington, D.C., in hopes of ushering in the renewal of the James L. Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act. And for one Nesconset resident, change cannot come soon enough.
Parts of the bill will expire next month, and other parts in October 2016.
The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act would extend the programs of the original Zadroga act indefinitely. It was introduced to Congress in April and currently has 150 bipartisan co-sponsors.
“When this bill expires, our illnesses do not expire,” said John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, in a phone interview. Feal, of Nesconset, has been walking the halls of Congress for the past eight years to help get this bill passed.
He is also a 9/11 first responder who worked on the reconstruction at Ground Zero, and lost half of his foot in the process. He suffered from gangrene, but he says his injuries “pale in comparison to other first responders.”
President Barack Obama signed the current Zadroga act into law in 2011 and established the World Trade Center Health Program, which will expire in October if not renewed.
The WTC program ensured that those whose health was affected by 9/11 would receive monitoring and treatment services for their health-related problems. It consists of a responder program for rescue and recovery workers and New York City firefighters, and a survivor program for those who lived, worked or went to school in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Zadroga act also reopened the September 11th Victims Compensation Act, which allows for anyone affected to file claims for economic losses due to physical harm or death caused by 9/11. That will expire in October of next year.
Feal said he was asked by television personality Jon Stewart to come on “The Daily Show” in December 2010, but the Nesconset native said he did not want to leave the real legislative fight in D.C. Instead, he helped get four 9/11 responders to the Dec. 16, 2010, episode, who helped shed light on the ongoing battle these responders were dealing with in Congress.
“He was definitely one of the reasons the bill got passed,” Feal said of Stewart. Stewart accompanied Feal and many other first responders when they traveled to Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and took part in a mini rally.
The bill did not pass the first time it was presented to Congress back in 2006. A new version was drafted in 2010 and passed in the House of Representatives, but was having trouble getting through the Senate due to a Republican filibuster. The bill received final congressional approval on Dec. 22, 2010, and was enacted by the president on Jan. 2, 2011.
“As we get older these illnesses will become debilitating,” Feal said. “Not extending this bill is criminal. People will die without it. It’s a life-saving piece of legislation.”
Jennifer McNamara, a Blue Point resident and president of The Johnny Mac Foundation, is also actively involved in the fight to keep responders health costs covered. Her late husband, John McNamara, passed away in 2009 from stage IV colon cancer.
He was a New York City Firefighter and worked more than 500 hours at the World Trade Center in the aftermath of 9/11. He worked with responders to get support for the Zadroga bill before he died.
“I made him a promise to continue to lend support to get this legislation passed,” Jennifer McNamara said in a phone interview. When her husband passed away, she said there weren’t as many responders getting sick as there are now. “People are dying more quickly, and more are getting diagnosed with cancers and other illnesses.”
The two big issues that McNamara said she feels need to continue to be addressed are monitoring these diseases and coverage of costs once someone is diagnosed. McNamara said she believes that if there were better monitoring programs earlier on, her husband could’ve been diagnosed before his cancer was stage IV, and he could’ve had a better chance.
“These people did tremendous things for their country,” McNamara said. “They shouldn’t have to guess about whether they are going to be taken care of.”
A parade of boats kicks off the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Brian Haensly, of the Saffron United Pipe Band from Babylon, provides musical support during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
A boat sails past an American flag in the harbor at the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
A fireboat adds a salute to the parade of boats at the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Port Jefferson resident Megan Becherer, 4, gets her face painted during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Sailors wave to the crowd at the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Children play games at the harborfront park during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Sailboats pass by during a parade of boats at the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Sailboats glide by during a parade of boats at the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
A girl plays a game at the harborfront park during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
CBS news anchor Maurice DuBois watches boats from the shore at the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Sailboats are lined up during a parade of boats ahead of the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Stony Brook resident Emily Huang paints at the harborfront park during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Spectators watch sailboats from the dock during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Jessica Colon, an 8-year-old Port Jefferson Station resident, gets her face painted at the harborfront park during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Isabella Colon, and 8-year-old Port Jefferson Station resident, gets her face painted during the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Actor Ralph Macchio hoists the trophy after the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Victorious sailors pose with the trophy after the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Actor Ralph Macchio speaks during an award ceremony at the Village Center following the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
"Andaluz the Artist" poses next to his painting on display at the Village Center after the 2015 Village Cup Regatta in Port Jefferson. After painting it live during the reception, Andaluz donated the painting, which was then auctioned. Photo by Bob Savage
Port Jefferson Yacht Club hosted its sixth annual Village Cup Regatta on Saturday, raising funds for pancreatic cancer research through the Lustgarten Foundation and for John T. Mather Memorial Hospital’s palliative medicine program.
The regatta pits the hospital and Port Jefferson Village against one another in a friendly competition for the Village Cup, a trophy which the hospital has now won two years in a row following a village reign of three years.
Participants raised about $64,000 for the cause through this year’s race, according to yacht club member Chuck Chiaramonte. The sum will be split between the Lustgarten Foundation and the palliative care program, which is focused on improving patients’ quality of life.
Chiaramonte said over the six years of the regatta, the event has raised more than $300,000.
The yacht club — formerly known as the Setauket Yacht Club — supplied the boats and captains for the event, which included a parade of boats, games and face painting for children at the harborfront park, and a trophy presentation at the adjacent Village Center.
Chiaramonte said the club looks forward to the event every year.
“It was really meant to just be a joyous occasion and share the love of the water and boating with our neighbors,” he said.
Mario Buonpane pays respects at a 9/11 memorial ceremony at Heckscher Park last year. File photo by Rohma Abbas
Mario C. Buonpane, Jr., a staunch local veterans’ activist, avid golfer and a family man, died on Monday after losing a vicious battle with prostate cancer. He was 83.
Buonpane, best known for his work with Huntington Town’s veterans — having served as a charter member and chairman of the Huntington Town Veterans Advisory Board and a past commander of the Northport American Legion Post 694 — is credited with spearheading the rehab of the Northport Veteran Administration Medical Center’s golf course, which brought golfers to the grounds and proceeds to the hospital, according to his son Mark Vincent (Buonpane).
Mario Buonpane speaks at last year’s town remembrance of 9/11. File photo by Rohma Abbas
“That’s his legacy,” Vincent said. “That will remain and serve the community for years and years to come.”
He received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army and he joined the town’s veterans advisory board as a charter member in 1987. He became chairman in 1993, and since its inception, the group enhanced Veterans Plaza at Huntington Town Hall with the completion of a number of memorials honoring veterans of all wars fought by the U.S.
“Our Veterans Plaza is one of the finest on Long Island and we still have plans to improve it,” he wrote in a list of his accomplishments.
He was also the chairman of the legion’s Veterans Affairs Golf and Tournament Committee, through which he helped negotiate a contract to take over the golf course in 1996. When the group took over, the course hadn’t been mowed in five years, the greens were diseased and there were no facilities, according to Buonpane. Since then, the course touts a clubhouse with a deck, new fairways and more.
Buonpane was instrumental in getting the Northport American Legion’s Boys State and Girls State programs up and running. The programs select girls and boys off to participate in a model governments to teach them how they work, and under Buonpane’s leadership, the number of candidates the legion has sponsored has grown, from one in 1982 to about 20. The program, “teaches you how to be a good citizen,” Vincent said.
Aside from his many community contributions, Buonpane was, at heart, a family man, The father and husband, who worked for Grumman as an electrical engineer and designed electrical harnesses on the lunar module always had time for sports with the kids, Vincent said.
“He taught us great values, he taught us how to earn things the honest way, play by the rules, tell the truth and have great integrity,” Vincent said.
On his work at Grumman, Vincent said, “he contributed to the greatest journey humans had ever done.”
Buonpane’s dedication and never-give-up attitude was his trademark, the son said. He took up running in his 50s and could only run a few laps around the track but ultimately trained until he completed the New York City Marathon. He still went to the gym, even with stage 4 cancer.
“He was tough,” Vincent said. “He was a trooper.”
Others in the Huntington Town community were touched by Buonpane’s contributions, too. Supervisor Frank Petrone issued a statement on Buonpane’s death.
“He worked tirelessly to support efforts ensuring that we all remember, honor and respect our veterans and that veterans got the services and benefits they earned by serving our country,” he said. “We will miss his presence as the master of ceremonies at our wreath ceremonies and other veterans’ events.”
Joe Sledge, communications director at the Northport VA, also spoke highly of Buonpane’s contributions. Sledge said he had known Buonpane since he first started working the VA 23 years ago.
“It was he who sponsored my entry into the American Legion over 14 years ago,” he said. “He made many significant contributions to Northport VA Medical Center through his time, talent, and countless generous acts.All who knew him would agree that Mario was a thoughtful, hard-working man whose life’s mission was to brighten the lives of others, especially hospitalized veterans. He will be sorely missed.”
Professor Allen Tannenbaum. Photo from Stony Brook University
It’s a dangerous enemy that often turns deadly. Worse than its potentially lethal nature, however, cancer has an ability to work around any roadblocks scientists and doctors put in its path, rendering some solutions that bring hope ineffective.
Researchers around the world are eagerly searching for ways to stay one, two or three moves ahead of cancer, anticipating how the many forms of this disease take medicine’s best shot and then go back to the business of jeopardizing human health.
Allen Tannenbaum, a professor of computer science and applied mathematics and statistics at Stony Brook University, has added a field called graph theory to some of the tools he knows well from his work in medical imaging and computer vision.
A normal, healthy cell is like a factory, with genes sending signals through proteins, enzymes and catalysts, moving reactions forward or stopping them, and the genetic machinery indicating when and how hard the parts should work.
Cancer, however, is like a hostile takeover of that factory, producing the factory equivalent of M16s that damage the cell and the individual instead of baby toys, Tannebaum suggested.
By analyzing how proteins or transcription networks interact, Tannenbaum and his colleagues can develop a model for the so-called curvature of interactions.
Looking at the interactions among parts of the genetic factory, Tannenbaum can determine and quantify the parts of the cell that are following cancer commands, rather than doing their original task.
Curvature isn’t so much a bending of a physical space as it is a change in the way the different proteins or transcription factors function in the discrete networks Tannenbaum uses in cancer and biology.
“The parts are not doing their job the same way,” Tannenbaum said. “We can look and see graphically how different things compare.” He and his collaborators recently published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
Using mathematical formulas to define a range of interactions, Tannenbaum can determine how quickly a cancer or normal cell can return to its original state after a disturbance. This ability is called its robustness.
The study “brings to light a new way to understand and quantify the ability of cancer cells to adapt and develop resistance,” explained Tryphon T. Georgiou, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota, who has known Tannenbaum for over 30 years and collaborated on this study. “It also provides ways to identify potential targets for
drug development.”
Tannenbaum studied cells from six different tumor types and supplemented the study with networks that contain about 500 cancer-related genes from the Cosmic Cancer Gene Census.
In treatments for cancers, including sarcomas, researchers and doctors sometimes try to pull the plug on cancer’s energy network. This method can slow cancer down, but cancer often resumes its harmful operations.
Using models of cancer on a computer, Tannenbaum and the five graduate students and four postdoctoral fellows can run virtual experiments. He can hand off his results to biologists, who can then run tests. Once those scientists collect data, they can offer information back to Tannenbaum.
“This is a team effort,” said Tannenbaum, who works with scientists at Memorial Sloan Kettering, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Georgiou described Tannenbaum as a “brilliant scholar” and a “mathematician with unparalleled creativity,” who has been a “pioneer in many fields,” including computer vision. Indeed, a computer vision program could assist nurses in the intensive care unit on different shifts assess the level of pain from someone who might not otherwise be able to communicate it.
Georgiou called Tannenbaum’s work on cancer a “mission” and said Tannenbaum is “absolutely determined to use his remarkable skills as a mathematician and as a scientist” to defeat it.
Tannenbaum, who recently took his grandchild to a Mets win at CitiField, said coming to Stony Brook in 2013 was a homecoming, bringing him closer to his native Queens. He cited two famous graduates from Far Rockaway High School: the physicist Richard Feynman, who helped develop the atomic bomb, and Bernie Madoff.
He and his wife Rina, who is a professor in materials science and engineering at Stony Brook, live in Long Island City.
Tannenbaum hopes to continue to build on his work applying math to solving cancer.
“There’s a lot of mathematical play left and then testing the predictions in a biological/medical setting,” he said.
This diffusion tensor imaging shows the patient’s nerve, brain and other tissue matter surrounding the white mass, which makes it easier for surgeons to diagnose and treat their patients. Photo from Ericca Ardito
When Jean Noschese’s left hand started to go numb, she didn’t expect her doctor’s visit to lead to brain surgery at Huntington Hospital, where she met Dr. Robert Kerr, a neurosurgeon who had a new way of operating on the brain.
On Oct. 16, 2013, Noschese experienced a head-on collision while driving in Hauppauge. The car accident left her in need of several surgeries, including ones to repair her rotator cuff and replace her hip. But it was when she started losing sensation in her left hand, in 2014, that she went to a specialist. Noschese, who initially wondered if her issue with her hand was related to her crash, was rushed to the hospital after her hand specialist thought Noschese was experiencing a stroke.
But instead of a stroke, the doctors found a three-by-four-centimeter lesion on the right side of her brain that caused paralysis on the left side of her body. Her lesion wasn’t caused by the crash, but from Noschese’s breast cancer that had metastasized to her brain. Noschese was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005.
Doctors wanted to perform brain surgery the following day, on Dec. 22, 2014, according to Noschese,
“It’s overwhelming to hear that you need brain surgery,” she said.
A large mass is located in the left hemisphere of the brain prior to the operation where Dr. Robert Kerr used Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter Plan. Photo from Ericca Ardito
But Kerr, who met with Noschese when she entered the hospital, reassured her and reviewed the procedure with her. A new brain-mapping technique, using the Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter Plan product, involves several new tools, including a highly engineered tube that splits brain tissue fibers and allows neurosurgeons to access difficult and deep parts of the brain easily. The procedure also utilizes a fiber optic, high definition telescope that creates a “cone of visualization” that allows surgeons to clearly view all planes of the brain they are working on.
The technique also features a procedure called the myriad, which uses a blunt suction device that peels off tumors from dangerous or sensitive areas without damaging surrounding areas in the brain.
“Traditionally, surgeries for deeper regions actually involve destroying a certain amount of tissue to get to the target area,” Kerr said.
According to Kerr, in traditional brain surgeries, metal retractors are used to create a pathway so surgeons can access target areas of the brain. Doctors use the retractors to pull the edges of the brain apart and create a pathway.
Kerr said the issue with this technique is that, regardless of how careful a surgeon is, he or she may still push on these retractors, which widens the pathway the surgeon created from surface of the brain to the target area. As a result, the patient is left with a hole in part of the brain, which means the patient will take longer to recover from the surgery.
Stony Brook Medicine Neurosurgeon Dr. David Chesler said Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter Plan procedure is only appropriate under certain circumstances.
“Tumors that come right to the surface, where they’re easily approachable, I don’t think there’s any benefit to using this technique, because the tumor is right there,” Chesler said. Chesler took a course for the procedure about two years ago. While he thinks the technique is beneficial, he does not think it is a be-all and end-all procedure for brain surgery.
While the procedure is minimally invasive, may decrease the chance of injuring the patient during the operation and allows surgeons to approach lesions or blood clots, Chesler said there are some downsides to the technique. He said that the technology of this technique is not new, but simply creates a new system that makes it easier for surgeons to implement.
Additionally, minimally invasive procedures double or triple the length of an operation, depending on the surgeon and the nature of the surgery. Surgeons who may not be very experienced may leave parts of lesions or tumors and blood clots behind because of limited visualization.
A large mass is located in the left hemisphere of the brain has been removed with the use of Synaptive Medical’s BrightMatter Plan. Photo from Ericca Ardito
Surgeons can only see what is at the end of the tube, which is around the diameter of a dime.
Kerr said this procedure will decrease patients’ recovery time. Patients are usually tired following the surgery and require extensive amounts of rest before they are discharged from the hospital. Noschese, however, was alert and speaking two hours after the surgery. Not only did she regain sensation in her hand, but she was also able to grab and hold onto a variety of objects.
Chesler, like Kerr, said patients who receive traditional surgeries for deep-seated lesions or blood clots can do well. He said his patients’ deficits were more related to the “structures involved with the tumor,” as opposed to the approach used. Chesler has seen both good and bad outcomes from this technique
According to Kerr, few surgeons are using this technique.
“Neurosurgeons are skeptics and slow adopters and I think that’s appropriate,” Kerr said, explaining why more surgeons may stick to traditional brain surgery practices.
While Chesler said the procedure should be used for the right case and with an experienced surgeon, he said staff are looking to adopt this technique at Stony Brook University Hospital. Chesler, who does both pediatric and adult neurosurgery, said he is simply looking for the right case. Recently he hasn’t come across a case that calls for the technique.
Doctors must demonstrate the procedure and illustrate its benefits when introducing the technique to the hospital. Hospitals need to invest in the procedure for a surgeon to officially implement it.
Although Chesler said there are other systems that surgeons can use to reach a similar goal, Kerr said the technique is a glimpse into the future of this type of surgery.
“I think this technology reflects the future of neurosurgery and accessing deep-seated lesions in a kinder, gentler, more precise way,” Kerr said. “I think this is representing a future paradigm shift in the way that brain surgery is done, and I think that we will see many more adopting this in a very short period of time.”
Paul Fick, center, poses for a group photo after the coin flip for the Major League Soccer game at Yankee Stadium. Photo from Liz Zarins
By Clayton Collier
Kings Park native Paul Fick has helped hundreds get “back in the game.”
This past Saturday, Fick had the opportunity to help 22 Major League Soccer soccer players get their game started with the coin flip at Yankee Stadium prior to the match between the New York City Football Club and the Montreal Impact.
Before a crowd of more than 27,000, Fick was selected for the honor by Coco Joy in recognition for his work with Back in the Game, an organization he co-founded that helps young cancer patients regain strength, balance, flexibility, and confidence in an effort to return the children to a condition where they can participate in sports and physical activities again.
“It’s really not about me at all,” he said. “I just have been the beneficiary of working with these children and getting to watch them progress through their treatment. It’s about the program; it’s not about one individual. I was the representative, but it was great to see Back in the Game get more awareness so we can help more kids throughout the area.”
Fick was also recently nominated as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year. Gilbert Salon, a volunteer for Back in the Game for the last five years, said the recognition is well-deserved.
“He’s been running that program for nearly 10 years,” he said. “His dedication, year after year, all the work he puts in, it’s really amazing.”
The program is run through Professional Physical Therapy in Garden City and is funded by the Miracle Foundation.
The idea for Back in the Game was started by Rob Panariello, a Professional Physical Therapy founding partner, and his friend Peter Menges. The inspiration for the program began when Menges’ son, Bobby, broke his leg on a relatively mild slope while skiing after doctors deemed him to be in remission from cancer. It wasn’t until after the fact that they realized that, while his son had responded to the treatment in getting rid of the cancer, his body had not fully recovered.
“His body wasn’t ready to go back to physical activities yet,” Fick said.
Paul Fick, a co-founder of Back in the Game, which helps pediatric cancer patients regain their strength, balance and flexibility, exercises with some of his young patients. Photo from Fick
Menges said at the time of his son’s injury, he realized that there needed to be a heightened focus on post-treatment life for children like Bobby.
“I think the disconnect was that the physicians were encouraged because the kids were responding favorably to the treatment and wasn’t that great, but what they weren’t seeing was a kid that used to participate in soccer or lacrosse or football, can’t even participate in gym class,” Menges said of his experiences following his son’s cancer treatment. “So yeah, they’re doing fine from a treatment standpoint, but they’re not doing well from a physical participation life standpoint.”
Menges said once the concept was organized, Fick was brought in to structure the program into what it is today.
“He was a real catalyst for taking the idea, figuring out how to make it work and bringing it to life,” he said.
To make the idea of Back in the Game a successful reality, the men presented the idea to Dr. Mark Weinblatt at Winthrop-University Hospital. Weinblatt’s endorsement was crucial to the program getting off the ground.
“Doctor Weinblatt was very supportive in recognizing the need for the program and referring the kids to us,” Fick said. “The trust that he had in Rob and myself enabled us to work with the kids. If we didn’t have that, it would have been very difficult.”
Nine years later, Weinblatt said the program is a terrific success.
“A lot of our patients, who really had a lot of difficulty in getting back to their usual routine, found it an immense help, not just in sports but in feeling good about themselves in day-to-day activities,” he said. “Walking around, going up stairs; the things we take for granted have been helped a lot by the program. They really do a terrific job with our patients.”
Through their work with the Miracle Foundation, the services provided by Back in the Game come at no cost to the families of the children recovering from cancer.
Though Fick doesn’t like to take any credit, Menges said the program, like Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium, couldn’t have occurred without Fick getting things started.
“Paul has embraced the concept and program from the beginning, and transformed it from an idea into a highly organized and professional program,” he said. “He is great with the kids and parents, and has continuously worked to grow and improve the program. His dedication and passion is incredible.”
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