What we support

“We run because the Brigham gave us hope again. Our brother got top-notch care, second to none. I don’t know if he’d be alive today. The Brigham saved his life.” - Heather Bliss, Team Captain, PJL3

For the second year in a row, Heather Bliss and her twin sister, Sammie McLaughlin, will run the Boston 10K in honor of their brother, Peter Lynch, who underwent a heart transplant at the Brigham last year. Grateful for the life-saving care their brother received, the sisters and their team, PJL3, are raising funds for cardiac research and care at the Brigham.

“The Brigham care team not only treated my brother as a patient, but our family as a whole,” Bliss says. “Peter would say, ‘These are strangers who didn’t have to sit next to me and hold my hand. But they did.’ They became more than nurses and doctors; they became friends and family.”

“I run because I want to do anything I can to improve early detection of ovarian cancer.” Brian Pedersen, Team Captain, Longer Strides for Longer Lives

This June, Brian Pedersen, a clinical research assistant at the Brigham, will run the Boston 10K for the second time in honor of his mother, Sarah, who passed away in 2022 after a 2.5-year-long battle with stage 4 ovarian cancer. Brian’s connection with the Brigham runs deep. Not only is he an employee, but his mother worked at the Brigham for many years and was treated at the hospital.

“Detection is absolutely key,” says Pedersen. “It will be a huge breakthrough to find a way to detect ovarian cancer earlier, when it’s much easier to treat.”

“We run to give back and support those in need of NICU care in the way we were cared for, held, and carried through our experience.” - Caitlin Twomey, Team Captain, Gains by the Gram

This year’s Boston 10K marks the second time Caitlin Twomey and her team will run to support the Brigham’s Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation Newborn Intensive Care Unit, where her son Jack—now a thriving 3 ½-year-old—spent the first two weeks of his life. Grateful for the supportive care team that helped get Jack strong enough to come home, she and her husband also spearheaded an effort to donate in-kind items to NICU families.

“Jack’s NICU stay was completely unexpected, and we were unprepared for it,” Twomey says. “If this was challenging for me—someone with family close by, a supportive partner, and resources—what is it like for others who don’t have this support? We run to help make the journey easier for them.”