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Our Mission

To improve the lives of people suffering from brain injury and disease by funding research to improve patient outcomes, raising awareness, and providing support for survivors and their families.

Kathy's Story

On March 8, 2015, Kathy suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. She was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. It’s because of Keck Medicine of USC, the extraordinary care by the medical team, and Dr Jonathan Russin, who successfully performed a rare procedure called a PICA-PICA bypass, that she survived. The technological advances in the treatment of this disease is how she is alive today and able to do the things she loves.

Kathy's Story

On March 8, 2015, Kathy suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm. She was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. It’s because of Keck Medicine of USC, the extraordinary care by the medical team, and Dr Jonathan Russin, who successfully performed a rare procedure called a PICA-PICA bypass, that she survived. The technological advances in the treatment of this disease is how she is alive today and able to do the things she loves.

Meet the Founders

Kathy, along with support from her husband, Robby, founded WeRunWithYou.

She is an avid runner, accomplished triathlete, and mother of twins. Kathy has completed over 15 marathons, an ultra-marathon, and triathlons of all distances, including the 2013 IRONMAN in Florida.

She survived a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2015, an experience that motivated her to start #RunLAwithKathy and WeRunWithYou to give back and make a difference.

Meet our Team

Kathy Alvarez

Kathy Nguyen

Kathy is the co-founder of WeRunWithYou with her husband, Rob Alvarez. She is an avid runner, accomplished triathlete, and mother of twins. Kathy has completed over 20 marathons, including  the Boston Marathon, an ultra-marathon, and triathlons of all distances, including her most recent  2021 Ironman Arizona. She survived a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2015, an experience that motivated her to start #RunLAwithKathy and WeRunWithYou to give back. She created WeRunWithYou to help brain aneurysm survivors return to doing what they loved best through spreading awareness and inspiration, and fundraising for brain aneurysm research.  She shares her love of running as a running coach, where she holds a Level 1 coaching certificate from the Road Runners Club of America. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara. She resides in Newark, DE with her husband Rob, their twins, and furry yorkiepoo.

Rob Alvarez

Rob Alvarez co-founded WeRunWithYou with his wife Kathy Nguyen to help brain aneurysm survivors return to doing what they loved best through spreading awareness and inspiration, and fundraising for brain aneurysm research. Together, they created WeRunWithYou.org which is a place on the world wide web that not only promotes their mission, but also shares inspirational stories from survivors and great advice from other contributors. When not working on WeRunWithYou’s mission, Rob is busy raising two teenagers with Kathy and works as a Plant Manager at Veolia North America. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Santa Barbara. Rob, Kathy, and their children call Newark, Delaware home.
Dr. Jonathan Russin

Dr. Jonathan J. Russin

Dr. Jonathan J. Russin is an assistant professor of neurological surgery at the University of Southern California-Los Angeles, director of cerebrovascular surgery and founder of the neurorevascularization center. He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Humanities degrees from Drew University. He received his medical degree from New Jersey Medical School, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He completed his internship in general surgery and his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Southern California. He holds a fellowship in cerebrovascular and skull base neurosurgery from the Barrow Neurosurgical Institute. Dr. Russin is a board-certified neurosurgeon and a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), and the AANS Joint Cerebrovascular Section. He has served on the board of WeRunWithYou since it’s inception. Since meeting Kathy and Rob he has been an active participant in the WRWY community and stays active racing triathlon and running the LA Marathon annually with Kathy.

Laura Kern

Laura joined WeRunWithYou as part of her journey to return to her longtime hobby of endurance training and racing, following a ruptured brain aneurysm while working out at home. Prior to her aneurysm in March 2022, Kern had completed 12 half Ironman races, 12 half marathons, 1 full Ironman, and four full marathons. In the latter, she ran a qualifying time for the 2020 Boston Marathon. Laura shares her love of endurance sports with her husband Steve, who she met while both were members of the Disney Triathlon Team. She has been at The Walt Disney Company for 14 years, and is currently Vice President of Corporate Alliances, where she oversees strategy for enterprise marketing partnerships globally with a focus on the consumer financial services category. She studied at Brown University before earning her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to graduate school, she served in a number of development and programming roles in the non-profit space. Laura and Steve live with their two goldendoodles in La Cañada, CA.

How You Can Make a Difference

Become a Contributor

Share your experience and expertise to inspire, motivate, and teach others so they can break through and live a happier, more purposeful life. Contact us if you’d like to be a contributor and start some meaningful and inspiring conversations.

Join the Conversation

We hope you will find both inspiration and information in our conversation pages to help you live a better, happier life. Thank you to our contributors for sharing their experience, expertise, and love with all of us!

Events

Participate in social and fundraising events online and in real life to give us an opportunity to connect and do some good in this world. Share ideas for events. Proceeds from these events will fund our work and charity partners. 

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