Fourth Annual VIC at Myopia Polo Event to be Held on July 30 at The Myopia Hunt and Polo Club in South Hamilton

The fourth annual VIC (Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center) at Myopia Polo, a fundraising event open to the public, will take place on Sunday, July 30, rain or shine, at the Myopia Hunt and Polo Club in South Hamilton. Proceeds will benefit the VIC at Massachusetts General Hospital which develops innovative technologies that address significant unmet medical needs in infectious diseases, cancer and type 1 diabetes.

The event, which begins at 2:00PM, will feature a polo match between teams USA and South America, remarks from Dr. Mark Poznansky, director of the VIC, and Nick Snow, five goal professional polo player and captain of the US team, a silent auction, and a reception under the grandstand VIP tent including hors' d'oeuvres, specialty cocktails and dessert. Additionally, attendees will be invited to join the polo players and horses on the field at halftime for a traditional divot stomping, as well as a parade of the Myopia foxhounds with the Hunt Master.

Currently, it takes more than 10 years and from $500 million to one billion dollars to accelerate a medical advancement from the research laboratory to a patient in need. The VIC is committed to increasing the speed and effectiveness of the process by which new vaccines and immune-based therapeutics progress from discovery through clinical development to patients.

For the second year, the international polo event will be held in memory of four goal professional polo player Will Tankard. Tankard, a former member of the USA polo team and stepbrother of Snow, lost his life in a tragic car accident two years ago. A moment of silence will be held in Tankard’s honor during the match. A portion of the monies raised from this year’s polo match will fund the Will Tankard Scholar, Riley Driscoll, who joined VIC through the Summer Research Trainee Program.

This year event sponsors will include Mike Stankus of Linking Sales Leaders, Betsy Bullock and Karen Hansen of Sotheby’s Intl. Realty, Philio W. Cushing and Karen & Chris Bernier of Churchill Properties, Bill Donnelly of PSP Imports, Beverly Athletic Club, and Wendy Drinkwater of Drinkwater Associates. For more information and ticket details, please visit https://because.massgeneral.org/events/-/e130037.