The Virtual Race: The Advocate Behind the Avatar
The Virtual Marathon for Medical Research is an incredible cause. In a previous blog post, Nelson Douglas, President and CEO of BC Cancer Foundation, wrote about his foundation’s commitment to the cause, and the important role the race plays in funding medical research.
Since the race is online, all sponsorships go towards the avatars running the race. Each avatar represents different medical causes like Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and many more. While the avatars will do the physical work of running the marathon online, it is the real people behind the images that are working to raise awareness and funds.
Case in point: Meet Connie Putterman the avatar and advocate running for Autism Spectrum Disorder research. Putterman leads the Canadian business development for Springboard; a U.S. based consulting company that manages corporate disability, diversity, and work-life and human resource initiatives. Among her volunteer efforts, Putterman is an active member of the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University Toronto Chapter Board.
Putterman says she joined the race because she thought it was a really" ‘cool’ and innovative way to raise money for IMRIC,” and she wanted to “raise money for autism research and autism research partnerships with Canadian researchers.”
She looks forward to seeing autism research in Israel gain momentum adding that “researchers at IMRIC have the capability to become world class in this area if they focused their attention to it. I also think that more money needs to be invested in this area of research in Israel and that it can have direct and sometimes immediate benefit to children and their families affected by autism and other neurological disorders.”
Putterman knows the immediate benefit research plays within the family dynamic, as she too is a parent of a child with on the autism spectrum. “I am a parent of a child on the autism spectrum who has directly participated in autism research projects and studies in Canada and has seen direct positive benefits of the research findings as well as the benefits of participating in research projects and in knowing the research community. I think that Canadian researchers in autism have a lot to offer their Israeli counterparts.”
As well as seeing an increase in the autism research efforts in Israel, Putterman would like to see more collaborative efforts with Canadians researchers. The partnership, she says, between Israeli and Canadian researchers would allow for access to each other’s skills, talents and knowledge.
Putterman visited the Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC) at Hebrew University this past spring where she had the opportunity to witness first-hand the innovative research and creative minds behind the medical breakthroughs. “IMRIC at the Hebrew university is the leading medical research institute in Israel and they understand that global collaboration is necessary to move medical research forward. They are poised to tackle global health research issues such as autism and to collaborate with other countries to do so. It's a world class institution,” she says.
You can join Putterman in this virtual race or join any of the virtual runners and get ready for race day on December 11th. Her advice on how to choose which avatar to run the marathon: “Just pick an area of research at IMRIC that is important to you and that you can connect with.”
