Green for Ian Day is an annual tribute to the life of former Stevens student Ian Rahimi, an electrical engineering major. According to Dr. Sara Klein, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, “Student Affairs participates in Green for Ian day every year in time for February 13, which was Ian’s Birthday and is now ‘Green for Ian’ day.”
The For Ian Foundation was created after the tragic passing of Rahimi, who suffered from SDHB-Deficient Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (SDHB GIST), which is a type of digestive tract cancer. Rahimi passed away on November 15, 2015, but his memory lives on with the For Ian Foundation, which “is a public charity dedicated to raise funding for scientific research towards management and possible cure of SDH-deficient cancers including GIST (Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor), Paragangliomas, and other related cancers. For Ian Foundation more specifically targets research of SDHB-deficient GIST.”
The foundation also serves other purposes such as getting patients connected with experts in the field, advocacy groups, and other resources to learn more about GIST and SDH-deficient diseases and cancers. Additionally, the foundation “ensur[es] that tumor samples from patients undergo the most rigorous and comprehensive testing and evaluation that is available today.” According to the foundation, “It’s our hope that solving the mysteries of these diseases, like many other scientific problems, is a matter of time and statistics. The more researchers, labs, tumor samples, mouse xenografts, and hopefully cells lines, the greater the chance of success.” The projects are done in association with the For Ian Foundation are meant to gain a better understanding of these diseases and introduce “a number of cancer researchers who were not previously involved with SDH mutations and related diseases.”
As for the success of the foundation, the Ian GIST Project has “managed to produce a mouse xenograft of the disease,” which was not accomplished by any of the institutions involved in the research prior to joining the Ian GIST Project. These “mouse models” are being studied at multiple institutions, thus furthering the main objective of the foundation by expanding research of these GIST and SDH-deficient diseases cancers. Moreover, Dr. Victor Velculescu and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University, “developed detection of circulating tumor DNA for GIST and SDH-deficient GIST by examining changes in plasma DNA through targeted as well as whole genome methods.”
Evidently, the For Ian Foundation has made great strides in working with researchers to work towards understanding these diseases and cancers in order to better improve the quality of life of the patients. The For Ian Foundation asks supporters to wear green on February 13 every year, donate, and send pictures as “a tribute to a remarkable young man who left this earth way before his time.” These tributes, “allow us to sponsor meaningful scientific research towards SDHB deficient cancers.” Regardless of donation, wearing green and taking photos is appreciated by the foundation.
So, next February 13, join Student Affairs in wearing green and paying tribute to Ian Rahimi’s memory and the great work of the For Ian Foundation.
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