Christopher Padilla

My name is Christopher Padilla and I am the Tissue Coordinator on the Weill Cornell Tissue Navigator Team for the Children’s Brain Tumor Project laboratories at Weill Cornell Medicine. After growing up in Manhattan, NY and recently completing my undergraduate studies in Neuroscience and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, I have found my way back to New York City to join the research initiative against pediatric brain cancer.

From my undergraduate studies, I uncovered a strong curiosity for the intersection of science and philosophy, specifically where the body meets the mind. I found neuroscience to be at the core of this juncture as a school of thought dedicated to exploring human identity and dignity through the natural lens of science. After experience working in neuroscience labs, I felt the urge to serve a vulnerable population from one of humanity’s most difficult medical problems by working on pediatric brain cancer in the Greenfield Neurosurgery Lab.

Being a part of the Gift from a Child (GFAC) network is an incredible honor because of its importance in furthering the collaborative effort to model and treat pediatric brain tumors. The generosity of families who choose to donate through GFAC has already yielded incredible results and will continue to be a powerful aid in the fight against these cancers. I am grateful to be working with such a talented team and I believe the collaboration between families, the GFAC network, and scientific institutions across the country will bring us ever closer to finding curative treatments in the fight against pediatric brain cancer.