Dear Family and Friends,

I am excited to announce that I am going to be running the 2012 Boston Marathon for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center! Running a marathon has been a goal of mine for some time, and I am proud to be able to work to accomplish this goal while raising money for a great cause. As many of you know, I have been working at Beth Israel for the past eight months, and I have grown to love this hospital. It is a special kind of place that combines state-of-the-art  medical facilities and research with a truly caring staff.

I am going to be training and running to raise money for the BIDMC Department of Nephrology.  I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the exciting research that is taking place at BIDMC.   Below is a description of some of the important discoveries that have been made by phsyicians and researchers from BIDMC Nephrology:

BIDMC/Grateful Nation wrote -

BIDMC Project to Prevent and Cure Kidney Disease in African Americans

African Americans develop kidney disease at 5 times the rate of other groups. Members of the BIDMC Nephrology Division, led by division chief Martin Pollak, M.D. have figured out why this is, and want to move this work forward to develop new ways to prevent and cure kidney disease in African Americans. This work may have important implications not only for the therapeutic management of kidney disease but also the host of other serious, life-threatening conditions, such as heart failure and vascular disease, to which it is tied.

As many of you know, I personally have been affected by kidney related health issues, as have some of our close family and friends. I would greatly appreciate any support you can provide as I raise moneyby running the Boston Marathon. I can promise you that I am giving it my all- blood sweat and tears (and a lot of blisters!) to reach my goal and raise money for this important research.

I sincerely thank you for your consideration and support!!

-Kristen