Charlie Teo Foundation

Today is the birthday of our founder, Dr Charlie Teo! Here’s a holiday message from Charlie… “The festive season is a time of joy and to spend with loved ones. It can also be a hard time… especially for those touched by brain cancer. Many adults and children are faced with a heartbreaking diagnosis of brain cancer at this time of year… In fact, I’ve always operated on brain cancer patients over the holiday period and this year was no exception… I’ve just returned from operating in Europe. This is why our research into this deadly disease is so vital. Charlie Teo Foundation offers HOPE to brain cancer families who display such tremendous courage. We are there for our community and for patients, ALWAYS, as we strive to support courageous scientists with the funding they desperately need in the quest for a CURE! We all need hope when we wake up in the morning. We hope that we’re going to live to see the next day. We all hope that the world one day will be a world without war, without animal cruelty, without poverty and of course… without cancer. As doctors caring for patients and families who’ve been given the diagnosis of a terminal illness but who remain hopeful, our job is to respect and nurture that hope. With your support, we can offer HOPE that a world without brain cancer is on the horizon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your birthday wishes, it is very kind. Have a wonderful festive season - think of and give to those less fortunate at this time, and by doing so, you’ll enjoy your down time, your families and your blessings so much more. Sending love and kindness to all our Charlie Teo Foundation community.” - Dr Charlie Teo AM Give the Gift of a CURE – https://lnkd.in/gFq4a6gB 📷 by Benjamin Liew Photography

“When you are faced in life with the dilemma of futility, or whether you should be courageous to pursue a goal… well it’s all about the greater good and the worthiness of what you are pursuing. It’s all about a non-selfish attitude to approaching the problem you wish to solve. If you’re doing it for yourself, for personal or financial gain, for fame or because you fear failure or seek perfection, you will come a buster. But if you’re being courageous for the right reasons: for the community’s greater good and the betterment of mankind, then your pursuit of courage can never be considered futile. I could have sat back and never tried to find a cure for brain cancer – but there is nothing remotely futile about the Charlie Teo Foundation’s pursuit of this goal. I learnt immense courage and strength from my patients, and it is this courageous mindset that the Charlie Teo Foundation has adopted in our approach to funding research. Without courage, there would be no progress at all. This is why courage is the CURE!” – Charlie Double your donation this holiday season thanks to the generosity of Cook's Plumbing Supplies Donate today via this link: https://lnkd.in/gFq4a6gB

This holiday season let’s bring hope to those living with brain cancer. Your generosity fuels life-changing, courageous research and drives the pursuit of better treatments -turning hope into action. Thanks to our corporate partner, Cook's Plumbing Supplies your generosity will be DOUBLED this holiday season - meaning your impact is twice as strong! 🤩 ✨ Cook’s Plumbing Supplies is a family owned and operated business, with doors first opening to Sydney’s plumbing trade in 1969. They have been a loyal, regular donor to the Charlie Teo Foundation since 2018, having contributed over $600,000 dollars to crucial brain cancer research. Charlie recently attended a Cooks Plumbing Supplies end of year celebration where he had the privileged of meeting a few of their most valued clients. The Charlie Teo Foundation is proud to call the Managing Director, Mick Dover and Peta Dover our dear friends! (pictured) The human spirit is stronger than anything it faces. Even in the shadow of brain cancer, patients show us the extraordinary power of COURAGE, resilience and determination, reminding us that life’s toughest battles are fought with heart and mind as much as with the body. This December, join us in empowering these brave warriors. Together, with Cooks Plumbing Supplies, we can make an impact that lasts a lifetime. With heartfelt gratitude for your continued support! 💙 🙏 Donate today via this link: https://lnkd.in/gFq4a6gB

Watch interview with Dr Charlie Teo AM about the impact of our brain cancer research, the researchers involved and progress leading to scientific discovery!

Charlie just landed back in Aus! Give HOPE these holidays and DONATE here - https://lnkd.in/g9yqsMsv Your generosity will be DOUBLED by our amazing corporate partner Cook's Plumbing Supplies. “Outside of our quest for a cure by the Charlie Teo Foundation, I continue to use and hone my skills around the world operating on some of world’s most difficult brain tumours and teaching my techniques to neurosurgeons thirsty to learn! Two weeks ago I ran my very first outpatient clinic in China. I then spent time teaching in Cambodia, which was extremely satisfying. The local surgeons are hungry for knowledge. Despite the lack of dedicated equipment, they offer a very compassionate and skilful service to their patients… and there’s no lack of patients! Pictured is me teaching them minimally invasive keyhole surgery for a patient with two metastatic tumours from a primary lung cancer. The patient felt so much better after surgery that everyone was impressed with the revolutionary technique, and he was discharged from the hospital the next day. I was invited to give a talk last week at the International Federation of Neuroendoscopy held in Dubai. I was so proud to see several of my previous fellows now on the program as speakers and leaders in the field of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery. There is nothing more satisfying than to see your students become better surgeons than oneself!!! From there I travelled this week to Hungary, where one of the best hands-on cadaver courses in the world is run to up-skill both trainee and senior surgeons in keyhole neurosurgery. I was honoured to be invited to be part of the faculty and perform live surgery on a patient with a very difficult brain tumour. The course was attended by neurosurgeons from Australia, Serbia, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland! I landed back in Australia this morning - my home - and that of my family, loved ones, the Charlie Teo Foundation and my patient clinics. All my global work and the quest of my foundation makes me realise more than ever that I could never sit back and not help people with brain cancer!!! There is nothing futile about our ambitious mission. Courage definitely IS THE CURE!!!” - Dr Charlie Teo AM

A LETTER TO YOU FROM CHARLIE! "I am proud to say we have awarded over $1 MILLION in new brain cancer research grants over the past 6 months to courageous scientists across Australia, North America and the UK! I have done a lot of soul searching over the years about what it truly means to be courageous… If you spend years and years on a pursuit that may come to no fruition, wouldn't it be great if you could put your time into something else. However, the problem with that mindset is that if you lack the courage to take a risk, as a society we will never achieve anything new! Over 30 years of trying to find a cure for brain cancer, I've been faced many times with the question of what is futile and what is worthwhile. What I've come up with is this..." - Dr Charlie Teo AM Keep reading Charlie’s Letter here: https://lnkd.in/e-BAjer3

Our shining angel Milli would have turned 18 today. Charlie shares his memories and heartfelt tribute to our star girl. 💫 “Every time I saw Milli she was always smiling. Milli was an exceptional example of how to make the most of one’s life. She was dignified, courageous, happy, considerate and determined. Our children are our future. They are the ones that hold the destiny of this earth and our species in their hands. Nothing destroys our destiny more than the death of a child. It is a combination of the incongruity of a parent out-living their offspring, the innocence of a child, the injustice of a disease where the victim is blameless and the unfairness of taking someone before they get to experience all that life has to offer. As a neurosurgeon I sadly see this all too often. I never forget the loss of a child. It’s not fair that children with brain cancer are dying and there are still no treatment options for them. We can’t sit back and allow brain cancer to rob our children of their futures any longer. Milli was an engaging and beautiful soul. The world would have been a better place had Milli been able to live a full life. I miss her very dearly.” - Dr Charlie Teo

This International Volunteer Day, we celebrate and express our heartfelt gratitude to our incredible volunteers! With a commitment to running lean so we can maximise funding for brain cancer research, we are proud to champion a model built on volunteerism. This photo with Charlie showcases our amazing event volunteers from the recent Bright Night Ball in Adelaide. These fundraising events would not be possible without their tireless support! Our volunteers go far beyond events – they contribute to every corner of our mission. From our Board and ambassadors, to IT and financial services, photographers, videographers, and more. These superstars work alongside us to realise our vision of a world free from brain cancer. To all of you, we thank you and honour you this #InternationalVolunteerDay 🙏 Photo by Benjamin Liew.

Charlie Teo Foundation is on a mission to make a global impact! Only by working together with the best brain cancer teams around the world will we finally see real progress in treatments for brain cancer. Our funded researcher, Dr Ashraf Zaman, has been sharing their research team’s progress over the last 5 years in Europe on their brain cancer project funded by the Charlie Teo Foundation. Here’s an update from Ashraf. “I had the incredible opportunity to present our brain cancer research at the European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO) annual meeting in a Keynote Session. I was sharing the stage with some big names in Neuro-oncology from Memorial Sloan Kettering and Harvard! There were over 1300 people in the audience – neurosurgeons, oncologists, scientists... I was definitely a bit nervous presenting to such a big crowd, but it ended up going really well. I had some great questions afterwards and even had a few scientists approach me about potential brain cancer collaborations! After the conference, I hopped over to Barcelona to visit the National Genomic Analysis Centre (CNAG). CNAG is highly-regarded in the single cell and spatial transcriptomics world in Spain, and they are keen to collaborate with us on our brain cancer project – specifically looking at the immune microenvironment within gliomas. I’m so incredibly grateful to the Charlie Teo Foundation for this amazing opportunity to work on our brain cancer collaborative projects over the past 5 years. It’s allowed us to make some real breakthroughs in understanding tumour heterogeneity and share our findings on such a huge international stage.” – Dr Ashraf Zaman

Our Bright Night Ball was held last weekend at the iconic Adelaide Oval, proudly sponsored by Our Town & Country Office National.   We are thrilled to announce that together we raised over $220,000 for the Charlie Teo Foundation to fund courageous brain cancer research. This fundraising result is after all event costs are subtracted, so every dollar goes to the cause!   What an incredibly heartfelt evening organised by Matthew Strawbridge and Sinead Strawbridge! We are so grateful to the Strawbridge family and friends for the tireless work in putting this incredible night together.   A huge thank you to host Mark Soderstrom and auctioneer James Packham who both so generously gave their time on the night. We were absolutely blown away by the power of live band Chocolate Starfish!   The night would not have been possible without the generous support of event sponsors: M & R Commercial Furniture Pty. Ltd., B. & S. Joinery Pty. Ltd., Jeff Tims Manufacturing Jeweller, Auld Family Wines, West End, K2 Office Rapid Line, Lindt & Sprüngli, Bright Star Fireworks, Events & Co, Central Audio Visual and the wonderful DJ Filip with an F!   Thank you to Sinead Strawbridge for your bravery in sharing your family’s story and the immense impact of brain cancer, and to Dr Charlie Teo AM for delivering the keynote address about the brightest minds in research who are not afraid to tackle brain cancer head-on. We share our immense pride and gratitude to all guests for your wonderful support and generosity. A final thanks to the event volunteers, auction item donors and contributors who helped make the night a huge success.   We can’t wait to see you next year! Photos by Benjamin Liew & Kelly Barnes.