08/28/2026
The TommyStrong Foundation was inspired by the courage and resilience of Tommy FitzPatrick during his two-year battle with ependymoma.
Diagnosed at age four, Tommy and his family quickly learned how difficult ependymoma can be to treat and how few effective options exist when the disease returns. Throughout his fight, Tommy never lost hope, always looking forward to the day when he could experience the joy of simply being a kid again. Today, his family carries that spirit forward through a foundation dedicated both to finding better treatments for childhood cancer and supporting children and families navigating the disease.
That commitment has made the Tommy Strong Foundation an important partner in PNOC's ependymoma research. Over the years, their support has helped PNOC pursue several very different approaches to one of the field's most persistent challenges: what to do when an ependymoma returns.
They supported PNOC027, which uses genomic sequencing and real-time drug screening on an individual child's tumor to help identify promising treatment options. They also invested in PNOC028, an early-phase immunotherapy study investigating whether natural killer cells could be delivered directly into recurrent or progressive brain tumors. Most recently, they are helping advance PNOC041, which is testing whether metformin, a medicine used safely for decades, could be repurposed to treat recurrent PFA ependymoma.
As the FitzPatrick family shared with us, their partnership with PNOC means working alongside “an inspiring community of families, doctors, and researchers, all united in accelerating research, expanding clinical trials, and bringing hope to the shared mission of bettering the lives of children with brain cancer.”
We are deeply grateful to the FitzPatrick family and the Tommy Strong Foundation for carrying Tommy's spirit forward and for helping PNOC pursue better options for children with ependymoma.
