Boston Foundation, Inc

Zachary's family thanks you for supporting his legacy of service and love. Charities your donation will support are described below.  Please scroll to the end to view the commemorative photo slide show honoring Zach's life.

Keep pressing the "Read More" button (4x) to continue viewing the site before donating.

The Zachary Mandel Memorial Fund at the Boston Foundation will provide annual grants to 501(c)(3) charitable organizations that help adults and children with physical and/or emotional disabilities, such as:

This fund has been created to support areas that had a profound influence and impact on Lisa. All money raised will be distributed on a semiannual basis to entities such as Angell Memorial Medical Center, AnimalOutlook, Native Plant Trust, Massachusetts Audobon Society, and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation.

Lisa Sofia Beurling Harbury Lerner, M.D., a distinguished dermatologist and skin pathologist, 58, of Chestnut Hill, MA passed away peacefully on January 6, 2021.

Lisa was born in Stanford, CA into a family devoted to education. She graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, completing the combined Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. She was a medical intern and resident at the Beth Israel Hospital and then completed a residency in Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and a fellowship in Dermatopathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and MGH, first from 1994 - 2000, where she published papers on melanoma, infectious disease and the role of nitric oxide in toxic epidermal necrolysis/Stevens Johnson Syndrome. She was a gifted teacher of students, trainees and colleagues at the local and national levels. From 2000 - 2012, together with a colleague, she built the most successful skin pathology laboratory in New England. Dr. Lerner was immensely proud of being the diagnostic backbone of the laboratory, and also demonstrated business acumen, that led to its successful sale. She then returned to Massachusetts General Hospital and subsequently pursued opportunities at StrataDx and Quantum Pathology.

Lisa was a polymath with interests in botany, food (both foodie and chef), ballet, including serving as a trustee of Boston Ballet, repeatedly qualifying for and completing the Boston Marathon with the Heartbreak Hill Striders, and reveling behind the wheel of the Mustang GT with Skip Barber racing, a passion in recent years. She loved dogs, and her Newfoundlands, Jasey and Bella, were a special part of her family. She dove into her hobbies with the same passion and pursuit of perfection as she did everything to which she set her mind. People around her reaped the benefits of her studious mind. While rigorous and demanding the best in her colleagues and paramedical staff, Lisa was generous to her associates during any crisis that they faced.
While compiling an illustrious academic and professional career, Lisa was a dedicated mother, wife, daughter and friend. She loved her adult children, Max (deceased), Sofia and Roo, and her husband Ethan, who survive her. She is also survived by her father, Albert and her siblings Eva Josephine, Pehr, and Henry. Professionally, she was the dermatopathologist you wanted in the office next door, to employ her expertise and broad body of knowledge. She was generous, understanding and consoling. Lisa will be missed dearly both at home, in the laboratory and by her professional colleagues and friends.

A virtual shiva was held at Temple Emmanuel in Newton, MA. Lisa was buried in Woods Hole, MA alongside her beloved son, Max Rush Lerner. Lisa was inconsolable over Max’s death in 2019 from an aortic dissection that was missed due to medical error.


More information about Boston Foundation, Inc: We bring people and resources together to solve Boston's big problems.

I'm raising money to benefit the MA COVID-19 Relief Fund and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause!

More information about the MA COVID-19 Relief Fund
Donations to this fund will help support:
- People who are food insecure
- Frontline healthcare professionals, first responders, and other essential workers
- Working families and households disproportionately affected by the impact of COVID-19
- Immigrant populations
- People with disabilities
- Homeless populations

For more information, visit https://www.macovid19relieffund.org/

If there is anything I have learned in my years of teaching, it is that through learning piano, students often learn many life skills. Students learn dedication. Students learn persistence and patience. Perhaps most of all, through performance, students learn the importance of community. 

 

In these difficult days, the importance of giving back to the community is emphasized now more than ever. That is why I have decided to join my students in a virtual recital to benefit COVID-19 relief on Saturday, May 2nd from 4:00-6:00 pm. Around this time of year, my students often participate in recitals and contests where they are joined by their families and friends. This may be difficult for many families right now. So, please join me in celebrating the achievements of these wonderful students while raising money for a good cause. 

Please join me in donating to the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund , which helps frontline healthcare professionals, first responders, and families in need. This fund is administered through the Boston Foundation. To donate, please use this page so that students and families can see how much we have raised. To learn more about the fund, please click here.   

Thank you to all who are able to donate. The recital will be conducted via Zoom on May 2nd, 2020 at 4:00pm. Participants will receive a Zoom link with instructions on how to join. The recital will also be live-streamed on my Facebook page for those who are interested in watching: https://www.facebook.com/yelena.gridneva