My uncle, Lou Garfinkle, lost his very long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease on October 3, 2005. Lou’s life was dedicated to creativity and imagination. He brought ideas to life on large and small screens. As a screenwriter, Lou earned an Oscar nomination for The Deer Hunter and was among the four people who devised the original story for the 1978 film. He wrote movie screenplays, television scripts and even the broadway musical, Molly. Lou co-created Collaborator, an interactive scriptwriting program that was one of the first computer software programs for scriptwriting, to enhance the creativity of his fellow scriptwriters. Lou continued to write by dictation throughout his long battle with Parkinson’s. His creativity was unending as was his unbowed spirit.

After much reflection and discussion on how best to honor his life and keep his memory and spirit strong, the family thought that an appropriate way would be to support something that Lou always loved to hear about and encouraged – the stem cell research ongoing in Dr. Ellen Rothenberg’s laboratory at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to which I have dedicated the last 24 years of my life.

I have long thought that our body’s stem cells are the most creative and potent cells imaginable. These cells have the potential to become any of the multiple varieties of cells that make up our tissues. Our research quest is to discover how each stem cell decides the particular kind of cell it will become. How does it find its way to reach the ultimate goal of becoming a specific type of mature cell - a brain cell, a liver cell, or a white blood cell? This basic research is critical for using stem cells in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and other debilitating diseases. The research findings may allow us to prevent a stem cell from “going wild” and becoming a cancer cell, as has been recently shown to occur in therapeutic trial. Understanding the mechanisms involved with this process will increase our knowledge about how cancer cells behave and perhaps have the bonus of helping to find better, more natural therapeutics for cancer and other diseases as well.

I think of my Uncle Lou everyday. His picture hangs over my computer at work and inspires me to seek the knowledge we need to have longer, healthier, better lives. There is much work to be done. If only we had the money to do it. I have opened the Louis A. Garfinkle Memorial Laboratory Fund at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to support this creative and vital research. This is not a scholarship fund, but instead will supply Caltech students and post-doctoral fellows with needed supplies and equipment which is often overlooked by scholarships. By giving to this fund, you, the donor, will know how the money raised was utilized. We are creating a webspace to display the equipment and supplies purchased as well as the things we learn from this research as the lab progresses. It’s an innovative way to fund the needed research.

In happy times as well as sad times I hope that you will remember Lou by donating to the Louis A. Garfinkle Memorial Laboratory Fund. I will personally write a tribute letter to the recipient of your choice if you wish to honor or memorialize friends or family. Caltech is a non-profit, educational institution and your donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law (Tax ID# 95-1643307). The Institute assesses an administrative fee, currently set at 10%, on all restricted gifts, to help pay for the costs of serving the activities funded by the gifts and the accounting and reporting costs generated by the gifts.

For details about how to make a donation to the Louis A. Garfinkle Memorial Laboratory Fund, follow this link.

I will be happy to send you a more detailed, in depth discussion of our research upon your request. Please feel free to call me anytime if you have any questions regarding our research or about the memorial fund.

In memory of my Uncle Lou,

Rochelle Anne Diamond
Member of the Professional Staff
California Institute of Technology
Division of Biology
1200 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena CA 91125