Catherine Ivy recognized by Department of Radiology for her generous support

August 10, 2018

At the Department of Radiology’s July faculty meeting, Dr. Gambhir presented Catherine Ivy with a plaque recognizing the Ivy Foundation’s visionary and generous support of brain tumor imaging research. In 2011, Dr. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, the Virginia & D. K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research and Chair of Department of Radiology at Stanford, received a five-year, $10 million grant from The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation to use for molecular imaging, to improve the detection and management of one of the deadliest and most common brain tumors: glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), which is currently incurable.

The Ivy Foundation, created by Benjamin “Ben” Franklin Ivy III and his wife Catherine E. Ivy, supports medical research for brain tumors. Catherine, founder and president of the board of directors, has a very personal interest in this cause. She became involved in the brain tumor community when her husband, Ben Ivy, lost his battle with glioblastoma in 2005, four months after being diagnosed with GMB. The Ivy Foundation’s long-term, ultimate goal is to cure brain cancer. Since 2005, they have committed more than $82 million to brain tumor research, with the expectation that this will lead to better diagnostics and therapies.

Ben Ivy graduated with a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree from Cornell University and received his MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He was President of Ivy Financial Enterprises, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisory firm in Palo Alto, CA. He was a Certified Financial Planner and a registered principal of Associated Securities Corp. who specialized in investment real estate. Catherine Ivy, a Certified Financial Planner, has worked in the financial planning industry for more than 23 years. Prior to her involvement in the brain tumor community, she served as owner and president of Ivy Financial Planning and Associates, LLC, in Palo Alto, CA. She has a master’s degree in personal financial planning from Golden Gate University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Arizona State University.