Why We Created the Rosenberg Family Fund
January 11, 1985, began like any other day—school was out due to winter colds, and our home was busy with the usual routines and preparations for an upcoming move. But that day took a sudden, devastating turn when our daughter Amanda, just eight years old, became increasingly ill. By the evening, she had lost consciousness. A CT scan at the hospital revealed what no parent ever expects to hear: Amanda had a Stage 4 brain stem glioma—an aggressive, inoperable tumor. The neurologist looked at us and said plainly, “This is bad news.”
It was, in fact, a death sentence. But we weren’t ready to give up. After emergency surgery to relieve pressure on Amanda’s brain, we launched into weeks of research, searching the world for anything that could help. She was accepted into an early clinical trial in Philadelphia and later pursued another at Duke University. We exhausted every option, consulted with the best physicians and researchers, and left no stone unturned. But nothing stopped the cancer. Amanda passed away on June 10, 1986.
Nearly four decades later, the outlook for children facing brain tumors—especially aggressive ones like Amanda’s—remains heartbreakingly limited. That’s why we created the Rosenberg Family Fund for Innovation and Technological Advancement in Neuro-Oncology at Rady Children’s Hospital. We want to help drive the kind of progress that families like ours so desperately need.
Who Amanda Was—and What She Endured
Amanda was bright, curious and full of life. She was a second grader who loved to play, learn and laugh with her younger sister. But cancer took those simple joys from her. Over the course of her illness, she gradually lost her ability to speak, to move freely and to do the things a child should be able to do. In the final stages, she was often in excruciating pain.
As parents, we were forced to watch the unthinkable—to see our child suffer and know that there was nothing more we could do. We were losing her, slowly and painfully, one moment at a time.
Amanda showed remarkable strength, and her spirit stayed with us even as her body failed. She deserved so much more. Every child does. And no family should have to endure the helplessness and heartbreak that we lived through.
“While we can’t go back and change what happened to her, we can help shape a better future for children who will face similar diagnoses.”
The Rosenberg Family Fund is our way of turning Amanda’s story into a source of hope for others. While we can’t go back and change what happened to her, we can help shape a better future for children who will face similar diagnoses.
How Amanda’s Legacy Can Make an Impact
At Rady Children’s Hospital, pediatric neuro-oncology care is backed by an entire ecosystem of innovation. San Diego is home to world-class biomedical institutions, groundbreaking biotech companies, and brilliant minds in science and medicine. Rady Children’s has the expertise—and the reach—to partner with these innovators and pursue research that pushes boundaries.
The Rosenberg Family Fund is focused on advancing that work. It’s designed to support bold, promising ideas—especially those that may not yet qualify for traditional funding. By investing in innovation, we hope to make real strides in diagnosis, treatment, and care for children with brain and spinal cord tumors.
Advancing Neuro-Oncology in Amanda’s Honor
Thanks to the generous support of the Rosenberg Family Fund for Innovation and Technology in Neuro-Oncology, Praveen Raju, MD, PhD, has joined Rady Children’s Hospital as director of the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Program. Dr. Raju’s lab recently advanced a novel P-selectin-targeting nanomedicine platform that delivers anti-cancer therapies directly to brain tumors, crossing the blood-brain barrier—a major obstacle in brain cancer treatment.
At Rady Children’s, Dr. Raju’s team is building on this innovation by applying the technology to small-molecule drugs and immunotherapies, aiming to improve effectiveness while reducing side effects. In collaboration with U.S. and international partners, including teams in Israel, they are also using machine learning and AI to predict which drugs are best suited for nanoformulation, helping accelerate the development of targeted therapies and driving forward the mission of the Rosenberg Family Fund.
If our fund can prevent just one family from facing what we faced, then Amanda’s life will continue to shine in a powerful way.
We invite you to join us. Help us make sure that an ordinary day for another family stays just that—ordinary.
Visit radyfoundation.org/rosenberg-fund to make a gift online. To learn more or to give through check or stock, please contact Julie Reinke at 858-966-8303 or jreinke@rchsd.org.
