About Us

The PLGA Foundation is operated by a board of directors, website content advisors and technical support.

Board of Directors

The board is a group of committed volunteers who lend their extraordinary skills and experience to implement the mission of finding kinder/gentler treatments and a cure for the most common form of childhood brain tumor, pediatric low grade astrocytoma.

Andrew Janower, President

AJ is a Managing Director at Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC, a middle market private equity firm located in Boston. He has an undergraduate degree from the Wharton School and an MBA from Harvard Business School. AJ's daughter, Samantha, was diagnosed with Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma in 2004 at the age of 3. Since that time he has tirelessly raised funds to jumpstart research into low grade astrocytomas, including raising over $1.25 million for the Brain Tumor Society's Ride for Research over the past three years. AJ's mother and sister originally conceived of the FightJPA.org website and he and his family were deeply involved in the creation of the Dana Farber's Pediatric Low Grade Astrocytoma Program.

John Ragnoni, Secretary

John is a Senior Vice President at Fidelity Investments where he has held positions in marketing, product development, and communications. He has an undergraduate degree from Bryant College and an MBA from the University of Connecticut and prior to Fidelity was a management consultant with KPMG Peat Marwick. More importantly, John and his wife Liz, are the parents of three young boys. Their five year old son, TJ, was diagnosed at eighteen months with a brain stem JPA. John is committed to creating a network of parents, doctors, researchers, and donors who can all be focused on a single goal - dramatically increasing the amount and speed of research to treat and cure pediatric low grade astrocytomas (PLGA). John and Liz have raised over $570,000 over the past two years to fund low grade astrocytoma research and have been involved in several other efforts to accelerate research through a nationwide grant RFP and targeted research programs.

Amy Weinstein, Treasurer

Amy Weinstein has an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Her career in marketing communications spans the last decade with her expertise focused on developing philanthropic partnership between private and non-profit entities. Amy’s commitment to PLGA stems from the JPA diagnosis of her niece, Samantha in 2004. Amy was instrumental in developing the FightJPA.org website and is currently the Executive Director of the PLGA Foundation. Amy is the mother of 4 children (ages 3 – 12) and is thrilled to be able to make a difference in the lives not only of her own children, but of children around the country suffering from this disease.

Kenneth Gainey

Ken Gainey, earned an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Previously Ken was a founder of an investment management company specializing in small and mid cap equities. Ken and his wife, Charise, are the parents of four children. Their oldest son, Jacob, was diagnosed with a fibrillary astrocytoma in June 2005. Since that time, Ken and Charise have committed/raised over $2 million for PLGA research and were one of the five founding families behind the 2007 launch of the Pediatric Low-Grade Astrocytoma Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Amy Glass

Amy Glass is a graduate of Princeton University and is currently Director of Operations at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she has been for 15 years. Amy's clients at BCG spanned a range of industries but she focused her attention primarily in the retail and pharmaceutical spaces in the United States and Canada. Amy is a member of the Board of Overseers for Boston Children's Hospital, and has been an active fundraiser for the Brain Tumor Society, through Team Samantha, since its inception in 2005.

Risa Sherman

For more than 20 years Risa has provided marketing, communications and philanthropy counsel to business, nonprofit, and government. Today, she is a Senior Consultant at Boston-based Cause Consulting Group, a firm that integrates social issues into companies to strengthen business and impact society. Risa is a graduate of Boston University's College of Communication and holds a Master's Degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Risa and her husband, Dan Katcher are the parents of three young children. In May, 2006, their then 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with an optic pathway Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma. Risa and Dan were moved to action after realizing the level of mystery surrounding JPAs and their treatment.

Michael Bass

Michael A. Bass, Esq. is a graduate of the University of Vermont and the New England School of Law. He holds an LL.M degree in Taxation from the Graduate Tax Program at Boston University School of Law. He is admitted to both the Massachusetts and Florida Bars. Michael is the Managing Partner at the Boston law firm of Bass, Doherty & Finks P.C., representing clients in the areas of estate planning, business succession, tax law, planned charitable giving and trust and probate administration.

Michael serves on the Boards of Directors of the Boston Estate Planning Council, Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Boston, as well as several corporate clients and private foundations.

Website Content Advisors

Loice Swisher, M.D, Parent/Family Advocate, Website Advisor. Loice is an emergency medicine physician in Philadelphia whose daughter,Tori, was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma in 1999 and treated with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The surgery caused a devastating neurological problem called cerebellar mutism/posterior fossa syndrome which left Tori totally disabled (since has recovered almost all functions). Loice's life as a parent/patient advocate began 8 years ago when she realized there was little information available to guide parents whose children suffered from these types of tumors. Loice responded by developing a Cerebellar Mutism Resource Center and online support group. She now runs several online support groups for mulitiple brain tumor issues and has worked with many national organizaitons including Candlelighter's Childhood Cancer Foundation, Brain Tumor Foundation for Children, The Musella Foundation, Children's Brain Tumor Foundation, Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation, We Can, America's Baby Cancer and American Brain Tumor Association. In 2006, Loice was invited to become a Patient Representative for Pediatric Brain Tumors with the FDA.

Linda Janower, fightJPA.org Founder, JPA/PLGA Health Advocacy Liaison. Linda is a recognized national expert in communications, health advocacy and public information for federal agencies and national non-profit organizations. Linda was CEO, and President, for 25 years of a professional organization dedicated to health and related causes. She has been publicly cited for innovations in her field, including research, testing and the development of communication tools, public information campaigns and fund raising initiatives. Linda was fully retired when her 3 year old granddaughter, Samantha, was diagnosed with JPA/PLGA three years ago. “I loved my freedom and retirement. My return to the information, advocacy and fundraising field (through the establishment of fightJPA.org) and my investment of personal funds to further the site’s development was due to my granddaughter’s devastating diagnosis, and my own recognition that the only way to accelerate the pace of JPA/PLGA research, to help my granddaughter and thousands of others like her, was going to be through a dedicated, phased, comprehensive strategy. We needed to kick start this process through a 'whole family' effort to raise awareness of JPA/PLGA. Now we need the support of the community at large to continue to raise substantial funds to accelerate JPA/PLGA specific research.” To support JPA/PLGA Health Advocacy, by volunteering any skills or contacts, please contact Linda at Linda@fightJPA.org.

Technical Support

Technical support has been generously donated by Eugene Mann and Jason Kahn, both students from Boston University. It has been their dedication and commitment that has spurred the PLGA Foundation website to grow in its depth of PLGA related information and links to varied resources. The PLGA Foundation is extremely grateful for their generosity and the compassion they have exemplified through their continuous efforts to support the PLGA Foundation.