Mustaches for Mike was founded in honor of Michael Clifford, a loving husband, father, and friend who passed away from brain cancer in March 2021. During the month of "No Shave November," we encourage all those who can to grow a mustache to honor Mike and his mustache from his younger days.

We've created this page to raise funds for research at Memorial Sloan Kettering, the hospital where Mike had his surgery in August 2017, and we hope you’ll consider joining the cause and making a donation.

Many of the most important breakthroughs in cancer research and treatment have been brought to light at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and none of that progress would have been possible without support from people like you and me.

Too many of us know people who have faced a cancer diagnosis, and sometimes it's hard to know how we can make a difference. One of the most effective ways to help is to make sure the crucial work being done at Memorial Sloan Kettering continues to have the support that will drive it forward. We've created this page because we are determined to do our part.

Your Donations at Work

A team of researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering has discovered the first novel treatment option for low-grade glioma in more than 20 years. This type of cancer, also called grade 2 glioma, is the most common primary brain cancer in adults. Low-grade glioma gradually infiltrates healthy brain tissue and can cause serious symptoms; people with the disease have a poor long-term prognosis. This was the type of brain cancer Mike was diagnosed with.

In a multicenter phase 3 clinical study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers showed that the oral drug vorasidenib significantly slowed the growth of low-grade glioma. Patients who received vorasidenib had an average progression-free survival (the length of time until the tumor started growing again) that was more than twice as long as the placebo group, at 27.7 months versus 11.1 months. And even after the tumors resumed growing, they did so more slowly — delaying the point when another treatment became necessary and reducing the need for more toxic therapies. Results were so impressive that the study was unblinded early so that people on a placebo had the opportunity to switch to vorasidenib.

Vorasidenib works because its chemical design enables it to cross the blood-brain barrier. The drug targets mutations in the IDH gene. Such mutations are present in 80% of low-grade gliomas and can cause tumor cells to produce abnormally high amounts of proteins that drive cancer growth. The study’s results point to a blueprint for future precision medicine approaches in neuro-oncology and present an opportunity to change the standard of care for gliomas with IDH mutations.

Thank you!

- Joan and Greg

About Mike's Doctor

Viviane Tabar, MD
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery; Theresa Feng Chair in Neurosurgery

Viviane Tabar is a neurosurgeon and stem cell biologist. She cares for people with primary brain tumors (such as glioblastomas and astrocytomas), tumors of the skull lining or skull base (meningiomas and chordomas), tumors of the pituitary gland, and tumors that have spread to the brain from other parts of the body (brain metastases). Dr. Tabar specializes in mapping the brain during surgery to identify the regions that control language, movement, and memory.

Dr. Tabar helped establish the Multidisciplinary Pituitary and Skull Base Tumor Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering, which brings together surgeons, endocrinologists, and neuro-ophthalmologists to care for patients using state-of-the-art nonsurgical techniques.

In her research laboratory at Memorial Hospital, Dr. Tabar studies the potential use of stem cells to repair brain tissue after the brain is injured by radiation or degenerative diseases.