Lifetime Achievement Award to Mike Murray

At its meeting in Seattle, the VHL Family Alliance presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to J. Michael Murray. Mike, 43, died May 7 at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, after a long battle with von Hippel-Lindau disease. A private investor and a director of the Murray Foundation, Mike devoted many years of his life to philanthropic causes related to his illness.

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, Memorial Sloan-Ketering and Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of Miami and Palm Beach, Florida, were among the many institutions which benefited from his tireless energy and the support of the foundation. Mike was honored at the Seattle meeting for his lifelong contribution to improving diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for people with VHL.

Under his leadership, the Murray Foundation provided funding for research into enhanced imaging techniques for change detection in breast and kidney tumors. He provided funding for development of the Cyberknife stereotactic radiosurgery technology at Stanford University. He provided co-funding with VHLFA to Dr. Diana Griffith, Dr. William Kaelin, and Dr. James Gnarra for their research on VHL. The Murray Foundation also provided funding for research on Retinal Transplantation under Dr. Robert Aramant, a program with the potential to prevent people suffering of retinal diseases from becoming blind, or to help restore eyesight.

"The support of Michael Murray and the Murray Foundation made possible several breakthroughs in VHL research including the demonstration that the normal VHL protein prevents blood vessel growth by inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)," said Dr. Kaelin. "We must never lose sight of Michael's vision." Those of us who knew him and worked with him will cherish his warm voice, his wry sense of humor, and the creative force he contributed to this work.