The Research Evangelist

I love Boston.   And I’ve written about my cancer journey and being the #CancerResearchEvangelist. This week reminded me of what I love about the city and this region. It started last Saturday when I was invited to by Ian Frenette, the President of the Boston Cannons professional lacrosse team to attend a game at Harvard Stadium with my boys.   We had the privilege of watching the game as VIPs at the Optum Champions Club. What a first class experience, and great hospitality by the team, and the opportunity to meet team majority owner Rob Hale.   I’ve been working with Ian and his team on an important initiative through Play4TheCure , the fundraising platform of the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) . NFCR and the Cannons are partnering on a new initiative to unite the lacrosse community with the medical and scientific communities in Boston to raise money and awareness about cancer research. We just announced the partnership today , part of the Cann...

We’ve all heard this quote, attributed to various people, most notably John F. Kennedy. It’s been used in a variety of contexts including other politicians. I even used it when I served on the School Committee in my town.   But it is so appropriate right now to think about this in context of the state of research & development investment in the United States, and in particular, basic cancer research. I was recently promoted to Cancer Research Evangelist at the National Foundation for Cancer Research , and in this role I will continue to be the voice for the urgency of funding for basic research.   I am determined to keep educating the public about the work being done in laboratories today that will lead to discoveries tomorrow. I've introduced you to many of these researcher on this blog. The U.S. is falling behind on investment in R&D to countries like China.   China’s total expenditure on research and development (R&D) has increased by 23% a year on av...

We’ve all heard the phrase “the system is broken”. Unfortunately, this could be referring to many things – politics, education, law, government, you name it – but the “system” of funding basic cancer research truly is broken.   Watch the news and you will think we are making progress in the fight against cancer – we hear about immunotherapy and nanotechnology, precision medicine, the moon shot , etc.   There are new FDA approvals of new drugs from big pharma, biotech companies going public, venture capital supporting up and coming companies, etc. And yes, we are definitely making progress. But I believe that most people don’t realize that we could accelerate this progress if we put more seed money into the hands of researchers on the front lines. The system really is broken.   And the reality is that philanthropy is critical in our current funding model in order for us to help advance innovation – to help scientists work on discoveries that just don’t exist today. ...