Updated August 2026
We help brain tumor patients and families make informed decisions by providing trustworthy education, personalized assistance in identifying treatment options and clinical trials, and financial support to help eligible patients access prescribed treatments. We also fund promising research aimed at accelerating the development of more effective therapies—and ultimately finding a cure.
Since its founding, the Musella Foundation has provided more than $14 million in direct patient assistance and awarded more than 340 grants to advance brain tumor research. Today, the Foundation continues to:
For additional accomplishments and our most recent financial and tax information, please visit Financials.
The cost of treatment should not prevent a patient from receiving a therapy prescribed by their medical team.
Through our Copayment Assistance Program, the Foundation provides financial assistance to eligible patients who need help with the out-of-pocket costs of certain brain tumor treatments. More than $14 million had been awarded in direct patient assistance as of October 1, 2022.
The Foundation maintains trustworthy information about clinical trials and noteworthy treatments for brain tumors. We also provide personalized assistance to help patients identify options that may be appropriate to discuss with their medical teams.
Our work began in January 1993 with the Brain Tumor Forum on CompuServe—the first online support group devoted specifically to brain tumors. Members helped survey major hospitals across the United States to identify available treatments and clinical trials. The resulting list became one of the earliest online databases of brain tumor clinical trials.
A companion website was created later in 1993 and moved to its own domain, VirtualTrials.org, in 1996. Over time, the site became a comprehensive source of brain tumor information, offering support groups, newsletters, articles, clinical trial listings, conference presentations, and educational videos.
Our website receives more than 100,000 unique visitors annually from countries and territories around the world, and our Brain Tumor News Blast reaches more than 10,000 patients, caregivers, advocates, clinicians, and others interested in brain tumor treatment and research.
The Musella Foundation has raised and awarded over $7 million in funding for promising brain tumor research projects, including innovative ideas that might otherwise struggle to receive early support.
The Foundation has also organized patient advocacy and letter-writing campaigns that helped draw attention to barriers affecting access to treatment. Among its advocacy efforts, the Foundation:
Al Musella, DPM, is a retired podiatrist who supported himself during school by working as a computer programmer on medical research projects.
His involvement with brain tumors began in 1992, when his sister-in-law, Lana, was diagnosed with glioblastoma. After surgery and radiation, her tumor continued to grow, and the family was told that few options remained.
This was before the World Wide Web became widely available. Al turned to CompuServe, where he established the Brain Tumor Forum in January 1993. He organized its members to contact hospitals throughout the country and compile information about available treatments and clinical trials.
That effort helped Al identify clinical trials willing to consider Lana after the family had been told that no suitable trials were available. Lana ultimately lived for more than eight years after initially being given only weeks to live. For much of that time, she remained active—raising her four children, working, driving, and enjoying her family. She died following a recurrence on October 25, 2000.
In 1998, as the work grew beyond what one volunteer could manage, Al formally established the Musella Foundation and eventually retired from clinical practice to devote himself fully to the brain tumor community.
The mission became even more personal in 1999, when Al’s father was also diagnosed with glioblastoma. He died approximately four months later.
These experiences shaped a Foundation committed to two inseparable goals: helping patients obtain the best possible care today and supporting the research needed to create better treatments for tomorrow.
There are many ways to advance this mission:
Every contribution—large or small—helps us serve patients and move brain tumor research forward.
We welcome questions from patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, researchers, and supporters.
Telephone: 888-295-4740