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Dear Friends,

We are grateful to you for your continued generosity throughout the year 2000. Your support allowed us to begin funding two new research fellows here in the United States, and a third international fellow began in Germany. While we have increased the amount of grant money we award, we have maintained extremely low overhead costs.

Now that the Friends has been around for 10 years, we are beginning to see the impact of funding outstanding investigators early in their careers after they have completed their Carreras Fellowships and continued their research to fight leukemia. The studies by one of our early fellows, Robert Negrin, M.D., have led to a new Phase I Clinical Trial to treat patients who have relapsed after an autologous marrow transplant. Alessandra Cesano, Ph. D., is now Director of Clinical Research & Development – Oncology for pharmaceutical company Smith Klein Beecham, where she facilitates the process of bringing "a bench discovery to the patient bedside." Our very first fellow, Catherine Verfaillie, M.D., has established a distinguished career. She now is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, is the author of numerous scientific publications, and is a frequently invited speaker at national and international medical meetings. After completing her Carreras fellowship, Verfaillie has been awarded several grants from the National Institutes of Health. A documentary on her work is currently under production by Belgian Television.

We are dedicated to continue funding the best and brightest young leukemia researchers. We hope that you, too, are committed to supporting our efforts. Please give whatever you can to help fight leukemia.

With gratitude and best wishes,
The board and staff of the Friends

P.S. A return envelope is enclosed so that you can make your gift today. Thank you.