Spark of Life Campaign Fact Sheet

• Launched by actor Christopher Reeve and Rick Hanson in September 1996
  
  
• $21 million endowment campaign to support research in neurological diseases and brain and spinal cord injuries and to purchase research equipment.
  
  
• Joint campaign on behalf of The Toronto Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children.
  
  
• Research focus on neurological diseases such as aging, Alzheimer's, dementia, epilepsy, Parkinson's, stroke; and brain and spinal cord injuries.
  
  
• Establish Chairs in Neurology, Molecular Neurosciences and Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery.
  
  
• The establishment of a Brain Tumour Research Centre jointly operated by The Toronto Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children.
  
  
• One in five Canadians suffers from some form of neurological disease.
  
  
• Neurological diseases are the third most common cause of death after heart disease and cancer.
  

©1997 The Toronto Hospital Foundation: Last Revised 5 June 1997