Gladiator Project Announces Game-Changing Partnership
On August 31, 2023, Eric South passed after a long battle with glioblastoma. As we mark the first anniversary of Eric's passing and today’s 4th annual Fall Classic charity golf tournament, Gladiator Project is pleased to announce a game-changing partnership with Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).
Eric worked with many wonderful medical teams across the country after he was first diagnosed with Grade IV Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) in February 2021, but at the outset, no medication or surgical clinical trials were available in the greater Nashville area. Upon completion of a craniotomy in February 2021, a clinical trial in May 2021, and then a second craniotomy in conjunction with a clinical trial in April 2022, Eric was searching for a new home team to lead his care. At that point, he quickly engaged with Dr. Ryan Merrell, who recently had moved to Nashville from Chicago to further his pursuit of brain cancer treatment and translational research. Dr. Merrell's professional ambitions are fueled by his personal experience with the disease, which unfortunately claimed the life of his father.
Throughout Eric's battle with GBM, his family and friends were extremely impressed with the standard of care that Dr. Merrell and his team provided. The Gladiator Project Board of Directors also became familiar with Dr. Merrell's vision for building up a new brain cancer clinical trials program in Tennessee as well as his dream of having a brain cancer center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In pursuing Gladiator Project's mission of funding GBM research and patient support programs, the Gladiator Project Board engaged with Dr. Merrell and Sue Reeves of VUMC to see how we could play a part in furthering the program's initiatives. As their clinical trials program was at a beginning stage, we learned that Gladiator Project could significantly accelerate VUMC's efforts and ensure that great strides could continue to be achieved over the coming years.
After extensive discussions, the GP Board unanimously voted to become a catalyst for the VUMC brain cancer center by establishing the $500,000 Gladiator Project Brain Tumor Research Fund! The incredible generosity of our supporters has allowed us to provide $200,000 in initial funding already, and we will continue our fundraising efforts to meet this $500,000 commitment over the coming years. We believe that this impactful donation will help Dr. Merrell and his team build a program to drive great successes in GBM research and also raise broad awareness to help VUMC further their reach in this space. In addition, a special space at VUMC will be named in Eric’s honor, and we look forward to sharing those details with you in the near future.
With the significant population growth in Nashville and in Tennessee overall, we believe it is an important part of Eric's legacy to enable the development of VUMC's brain cancer center for patients both locally to Vanderbilt and beyond. We are extremely thankful for our contributors who have made this commitment possible, and we look forward to great things to come at VUMC!
