Remembering Professor Mario Sanna

Professor Mario Sanna was an internationally renowned surgeon, a pioneer of modern skull base surgery, and one of the world's leading experts in surgically treating head and neck paragangliomas. He was also a deeply beloved physician, mentor, colleague, and friend whose loss is felt around the world.

As Founder and Director of Gruppo Otologico in Piacenza, Italy, Professor Sanna devoted his remarkable career to improving surgical care for patients with complex conditions. His contributions to medicine were extraordinary, but so too was his generosity in sharing his knowledge, mentoring generations of surgeons, and building friendships and collaborations that crossed borders.

His dedication to people living with head and neck paragangliomas extended well beyond the operating room. He helped bring together international experts to strengthen research, collaboration, and clinical care, including through the First International Congress on Head and Neck Paragangliomas.

We were privileged to have Professor Sanna share his expertise with the Pheo Para Alliance community through our educational programs.

For all his remarkable achievements, perhaps his greatest legacy is found in the lives he touched and the deep affection and respect he inspired. He was admired for his brilliance, but beloved for the person he was.

We join his family, friends, patients, and colleagues worldwide in mourning this tremendous loss. His contributions to medicine will endure, as will the kindness, friendship, and humanity for which he will be remembered.

Remembering Jenifer Hunt

We also mourn the heartbreaking loss of Jenifer Hunt, our beloved PPA Care Kit Manager, Peer Navigator, and Peer Support Meeting Facilitator, whose extraordinary kindness and compassion touched patients' and families' lives worldwide.

With tremendous love and care, Jenifer personally curated our Care Kits for people newly diagnosed with PPGL and those who learned they carried a PPGL-related genetic variant. She thoughtfully prepared each package and a carefully handwritten note, knowing that somewhere in the world, someone might be frightened, overwhelmed, or unsure of what came next.

To Jenifer, these were never simply packages of educational materials and resources. Behind every Care Kit was a person with a story, a family, and questions about an uncertain future. She wanted each person who opened one to feel that someone cared about them, even if they had never met.

Her compassion extended far beyond the Care Kits she so lovingly prepared. As a Peer Navigator and Peer Support Meeting Facilitator, Jenifer gave people something equally precious: her time, her understanding, and a safe place to be heard. She was there for the difficult conversations, the questions without easy answers, and the moments when simply connecting with someone who understood could make all the difference.

Jenifer may never have known just how much her kindness meant to the people she reached. But somewhere, in homes around the world, are handwritten notes from Jenifer, lasting reminders of a woman who took the time to care about someone she had never met.

She spent so much of her life making sure others knew they were not alone. I hope Jenifer knew just how deeply she was loved and how much she meant to all of us.

Coming Together as a Community

As we grieve the loss of Professor Sanna and Jenifer, I hope we can find comfort in one another and in the memories we share. Many in our community knew them personally, worked alongside them, or experienced their kindness firsthand. Their absence will be felt in different ways, and I hope we can give one another the space, understanding, and support we may need.

If Professor Sanna or Jenifer touched your life, we invite you, if you feel comfortable, to share a memory, a story, or a few words about what they meant to you on our social media remembrance posts (links below). We hope these shared memories will bring comfort to their families, friends, and everyone mourning their loss.

Above all, please take care of yourselves and one another. Grief affects each of us differently, and sometimes a kind word, a shared memory, or simply reaching out to someone who is hurting can make a meaningful difference.

We are also considering a virtual gathering where our community can come together to remember Professor Sanna and Jenifer, share stories, and support one another. If you would find this meaningful, please email us at jobeth@pheopara.org.

The compassion, generosity, and kindness that Professor Sanna and Jenifer brought into our lives will remain part of this community. May we honor them by extending that same care to one another.

With heartfelt sympathy,

JoBeth

JoBeth McCarthy, DHSc, MPH, CPH

Executive Director

Pheo Para Alliance

The Pheo Para Alliance's mission is to empower patients with pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma, their families, and medical professionals through advocacy, education, and a global community of support, while advancing research that accelerates treatments and cures.

Patients, caregivers, clinician-scientists, and advocates founded us in 2007. The Pheo Para Alliance is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, incorporated in the state of Virginia. Tax ID: 26-1510652.