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NYU LANGONE
MEDICAL CENTER’S FACES GALA HONORING
TEMPLE GRANDIN, PHD, RAISES MORE THAN $4.2 MILLION
At the Finding A Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures (FACES)
Gala, held on Monday,
March 3 at Pier
Sixty at Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers, 750
guests attended the event to raise more than $4.2
million to
support life-enhancing programs in cutting-edge research,
clinical care, and education and community awareness
initiatives at NYU Langone Medical Center. David
Remnick, editor of the New
Yorker, and
Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor of NBC
Nightly News, served
as the evening’s co-emcees.
Affiliated with NYU Langone and its Comprehensive Epilepsy
Center, FACES funds research to improve epilepsy care,
advance new therapies, and foster a supportive community for
children, families, and caregivers who live with the
challenges of epilepsy. An estimated three million Americans
suffer from some form of epilepsy.
Robert I. Grossman, dean and CEO of NYU Langone, provided
opening remarks, underscoring how NYU Langone has become the
place to find support and treatment. According to Dean
Grossman, “Since 1989, our Comprehensive Epilepsy Center has
helped more than 25,000 people get their lives back.”
Orrin Devinsky, MD, founder of FACES, professor of
neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, and director of the
Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Langone, later
presented, highlighting current research, including the use
of the marijuana compound cannabidiol in the treatment of
pediatric epilepsies, understanding the genetic, molecular,
and imaging links between Autism and Epilepsy, and improving
outcomes for people with epilepsy and depression who also
suffer from healthcare disparities. In fact, seed funding
raised at previous annual FACES galas has allowed the
medical center to submit more than six federal and national
foundation grants in the first half of 2014 alone.
Many FACES supporters were also recognized, including Leah
and Michael Weisberg for generously underwriting the event, gala
chairs Katie Boehly and Todd Boehly, FACES board member and
president of Guggenheim Partners, and
auction chairs Carol Pressler and her daughter, Lauri
Herman, member of the FACES steering committee.
Highlights of the program included a speech
by a grateful
patient, 12-year-old William Moller and his mother Elisa
Moller. William, under the care of Dr. Devinsky, has been
seizure-free for over three years. Additionally,
best-selling author, Oliver Sacks, MD, professor of
neurology at NYU School of Medicine, honored his friend,
Temple Grandin, PhD, professor of animal science at Colorado
State University and a widely cited proponent of the rights
of autistic persons and of animal welfare. Dr. Devinsky
spoke of Dr. Grandin’s remarkable achievements and presented
her with a special memento, a painting titled Jersey by
Caryn King, commissioned for Dr. Grandin.
Also of note was the annual live auction–one
of the largest held in New York–conducted by auctioneer Hugh
Hildesley, executive
vice president of senior business development at
Sotheby’s. Popular prizes were a private dinner for 20 at
the Maialino restaurant and a Night
of Too Many Stars package, a
Comedy Central event at the Beacon Theater that included two
tickets to a live taping of the show, access to the pre- and
post-party, a two-night stay at the Gansevoort Park Avenue
Hotel in New York City, and dinner for two at Asellina
Ristorante.
Special guests in attendance included: Leah
and Michael Weisberg, Loretta Brennan Glucksman and Kate
Cooney Picco, Matt Stone and Angela Howard, Amy Pollner
Moritz, Ginny and Steven Spiegel, Randi and Jeff Levine,
Anthony and Elaine Marden, Larry Davis and Donna Emma,
Warren Lammert, Miranda and Lucas van Praag, Claudia and
Harry Falk, Mike and Sukey Novogratz, Susan and David
Swinghamer, Veronica Mainetti, and Anna and Jim Fantaci,
among others.
About NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Medical Center, a world-class, patient-centered,
integrated academic medical center, is one of the nation’s
premier centers for excellence in clinical care, biomedical
research, and medical education. Located in the heart of
Manhattan, NYU Langone is composed of four hospitals—Tisch
Hospital, its flagship acute care facility; Rusk
Rehabilitation; the Hospital for Joint Diseases, the Medical
Center’s dedicated inpatient orthopaedic hospital; and
Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, a comprehensive pediatric
hospital supporting a full array of children’s health
services across the Medical Center—plus the NYU School of
Medicine, which since 1841 has trained thousands of
physicians and scientists who have helped to shape the
course of medical history. The Medical Center’s tri-fold
mission to serve, teach, and discover is achieved 365 days a
year through the seamless integration of a culture devoted
to excellence in patient care, education, and research. For
more information, go to
www.NYULMC.org and interact with us on Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube.
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