PNI Founders’ Message 2021

Goodbye 2020…Hello 2021!

Although our medical community continues to strain under the burden of COVID-19, there has been hope, determination and progress. At no other time in history has such attention been focused on the development of life-saving treatments for the critically ill and an enduring vaccine. Gratefully, the global medical community, pharmaceuticals and governments have come together swiftly with several vaccine options in less than a year.

PNI Progress

Against this backdrop, neurological diseases do not stop and neither have we at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. Along with our affiliated hospitals, Providence Saint John’s Health Center and Little Company of Mary Medical Center, we were able to quickly implement strict safety protocols for patients, visitors and staff, so that we could continue to provide the highest quality of care. We have expanded our medical teams to include new specialists in facial paralysis, neuro-oncology, stroke, and neurovascular diseases. In addition, our specialized teams were able to provide innovative treatments through clinical trials for difficult brain and CNS tumors, pituitary tumors, essential tremor, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The Treatment & Research In Psychedelics (TRIP) program is providing relief using FDA-approved medications for mental health issues including addiction, anxiety and depression which are particularly rampant at this time. With the expansion of the TRIP team, we’re poised to begin a psilocybin clinical trial for alcohol use disorder in late January. Family caregivers often bear the brunt of profound loss of loved ones due to COVID-19, cancer, dementia, and other diseases, and we are working to address prolonged grief though a forthcoming psychedelic-assisted clinical trial protocol, hopefully in early 2021.

PNI Foundation

We continue building the PNI Foundation infrastructure in partnership with Saint John’s Health Center Foundation to support robust PNI growth. In 2020, we welcomed our new PNI Foundation VP, Melissa Coleman, Esq., and our Innovation Director, Dr. Neil Martin, as well as two new advisors to the PNIF board, Michael Ricks and Louie Schwartzberg.

Philanthropy

Our commitment to care is achieved through philanthropy and our donor community continues to play an essential role in PNI’s ongoing ability to make a difference in diagnosing, treating and preventing disorders of the brain and nervous system. This collaboration translates to immediate impact with real and lasting results for patients and their families.

To all of our supporters, we thank you. This year we have been incredibly fortunate in the support of our Brain Health and Brain Tumor programs. We especially would like to thank the Singleton Family. Their $40M transformational gift is helping us pioneer new advances to address and cure Alzheimer’s Disease and other related memory disorders.

Looking Forward

We enter 2021 with a deep commitment to treating our patients, doing groundbreaking research, providing innovative clinical trials, and above all striving for excellence in all we do.

Think Neuro. Think PNI.

Sincerely,
Daniel F. Kelly, MD, Chester F. Griffiths, MD, Howard R. Krauss, MD & Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD