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6th Annual Neurosurgery Charity Softball Tournament Hits It Out of the Park For Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Fund

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 July 2009, 12:25 CDT

WESTCHESTER, Ill., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Fund of Columbia University Medical Center (the Fund) and BrainLAB teamed up again this year for the 6th Annual Charity Softball Tournament and all-star after-party at ESPNZone in New York City. The June 6 event raised funds to support the advancement of diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of childhood brain tumors.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090701/CG41008)

"This year's Tournament was a home run for the kids! To see how support for our organization has grown is inspiring--this is an important cause and the tournament gives us an opportunity to have fun with a positive impact," said Rick Komotar, M.D., Columbia University resident and founder of the Fund.

Neurosurgeons from 19 institutions, including Columbia University Medical Center; Cornell University; New York University; Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Harvard University; Yale University; The Johns Hopkins University; Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Emory University; Duke University; University of Pennsylvania; University of Utah; Dartmouth College; Thomas Jefferson; Northwestern University; University of Alabama; Barrow Neurological Institute; Penn State University and the University of Florida and a special all-star celebrity team joined forces on the baseball fields of Central Park and went to bat for the Fund, raising approx. $200,000.

Columbia University Medical Center won the tournament and was presented with the championship trophy during the after-party. "The J. Lawrence Pool Memorial Trophy," named in honor of the former Columbia University neurosurgery chairman, will be housed at Columbia until next year's tournament.

"We are proud to be a part of the Fund's Charity Softball Tournament. Giving back to patients and their families continues to be important to BrainLAB and supporting this event is natural fit for us," said Sean Clark, president, BrainLAB, Inc.

The Tournament was hosted by Columbia University Medical Center and sponsored by George M. Steinbrenner, III, and The New York Yankees. A BrainLAB-sponsored celebrity team was led by captains Julian Casablancas (lead singer of The Strokes) and actor Danny Masterson. ESPN anchor Jeremy Schaap threw honorary first pitches to Dan Palumbo, a young brain tumor survivor treated at Columbia.

To learn more about The Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Fund of Columbia University Medical Center and the 6th Annual Charity Softball tournament, please visit www.columbiakidsneuro.org.

About BrainLAB

BrainLAB develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology that enables procedures that are more precise, less invasive, and also less expensive than traditional treatments. Among the core products are image-guided systems that provide highly accurate real-time information used for navigation during surgical procedures. This utility has been further expanded to serve as a computer terminal for physicians to more effectively access and interpret diagnostic scans and other digital medical information for better informed decisions.

BrainLAB solutions allow expansion from a single system to operating suites to digitally integrated hospitals covering all subspecialties from neurosurgery, orthopedics, ENT, CMF to spine & trauma and oncology. With 3300 systems installed in over 75 countries, BrainLAB is a market leader in image-guided technology. The privately held BrainLAB group, founded in 1989, is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and today employs 1000 people in 16 offices across Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America.

For more information, visit BrainLAB at www.brainlab.com.

SOURCE BrainLAB

Source: PR Newswire

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