Putting a Stake in the Ground

-
 

I just experienced a powerful example of a community coming together in the interest of making a difference in supporting cancer research. And with the help of this community, we raised over $120,000 for research in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Haber at Mass. General Hospital.  I’ve written about how individual cancer researchers in labs across the country spend up to 75% of their time on fundraising when they should be spending 100% of their time in the lab doing what they do best. I’m ever more committed to identifying innovative research in Boston, and directing funds into these laboratories. The lacrosse community in greater Boston helped me put a stake in the ground because we showed it’s possible to identify a cancer researcher doing innovative work, then educate and rally a community to support a specific, tangible project.  We united the lacrosse community, and told our donors exactly where their money would go and the impact their dollars will have.  
 


The lacrosse community in greater Boston – The Boston Cannons professional team, youth teams, former college players and sponsors all came together for the cause. I am grateful for everyone who played a part in the success of what the Cannons called “Cannons Fighting Cancer”.  Ian Frenette and his team put in a lot of hard work and were amazing to work with - and the Cannons also made a generous contribution.  And I’m so grateful to MGH Cancer Center, New Balance, Warrior, Eastern Bank , US Lacrosse, NHYLA, MBYLL and so many former players and individual donors who helped us, and supported the effort. The Lax Sports Network also helped promote the event through a live broadcast – and I appreciated the opportunity to be interviewed during the charity pick up game! 
 


Personally it was also a realization that I will continue to go forth as the Cancer Research Evangelist, with a focus on Boston, identifying promising research, and connecting with communities that can help support these specific labs. I firmly believe that we can help fill the funding gap that exists for these folks, and help free up their time to do their laboratory work. One researcher told me that just $100,000 can help support a post doc researcher in his lab, plus all supplies/reagents, for one year. He told me how important that is for him. Think of what $1 million would mean to his lab. One post doc for 10 years, 2 post docs for 5 years…you get my point. Remember, researchers may work at big institutions, but their lab is not supported by the institution – they are responsible for funding their own labs. And with NIH grants almost impossible to get (11% chance) and the time it takes to write grants and fundraise – the need is clear.  
 
 
So, I look forward to the finding the next community to help me connect with a research lab in Boston. I have a few labs in mind that are doing truly innovative work. I want to focus on mid-career researchers that are entering the most challenging part of their careers in terms of getting funding (see my next blog post for more details). I support research for ALL cancers at institutions in Boston, including Mass. General Hospital, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, MIT Koch Institute, Broad Institute and more. We are all in this together. #gratitude

 

 

 

Popular posts from this blog

A Bowl of Gratitude

-
Image
I was introduced recently to Lynne Sarnoff-Christensen by her cousin, and my friend Jeffrey Cohen. You see, she makes pottery and well, more specifically she make “bowls of gratitude”. So of course, Jeffrey knew that I would hit it off with Lynne because he knows I live a life full of gratitude. Another friend, Keith Spiro said I just had to buy a bowl – so I did. The idea is to put notes in the bowl about things you are grateful for. So it’s my new thing. I’ve long been a fan of Shawn Achor and I’ve gotten into the habit of writing down things that I am grateful for. So this bowl of gratitude will be where I put my notes. And I will encourage my family to also add their notes to the bowl. We have a tradition on Thanksgiving to go around the table before we dig in to our meal, to share what we are thankful for. We shouldn’t just do this at Thanksgiving! When I called Lynne, she explained her philosophy and I get it: “You didn’t get from there to here without people believ...
Read more

The Power of Community: The White Ribbon Project

-
Image
The Greek meaning of evangelist is "bringing the good news." It's why I call my podcast the Research Evangelist Podcast. I love to share stories about people in life sciences who are doing amazing work to advance cancer research. And it's why The White Ribbon Project has captured my attention. The White Ribbon Project is a grassroots movement of lung cancer patients, advocates, clinicians, researchers friends and families with a mission to change the public perception of lung cancer by spreading awareness that anyone with lungs can get lung cancer. No one deserves lung cancer whether you smoked or not. But lung cancer is not just a smokers disease, as more and more people are getting lung cancer with no smoking history. The White Ribbon Project is proving that the power of a community that cares can be unleashed by individuals who wanted to make a difference - people that didn't set out to start a movement. It's because their story is so sincere and authentic...
Read more

Time to Move Beyond the Ribbons?

-
This past week, I had the pleasure of meeting Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey and Harvard Medical School Professor of Genetics, Dr. Fred Alt. They were both in Washington, DC for the presentation of the 2015 NFCR Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research, which was awarded to Dr. Alt and keynoted by Sen. Markey.   The common theme I heard from both of these distinguished leaders was captured in a Huffington Post article written by Sam Stein , who attended the event . Stein succinctly wrote that “U.S. Science has never been more imperiled”. He noted that the lack of funding for basic scientific research not only prevents new discoveries, but it also means that we are losing promising scientists whose work can’t get funded.    10 years ago, nearly a third of qualified research was funded by NIH.   Now that number is only 14% (actually even lower for oncology, near 9%).   As Sen. Markey said, “sadly, support for scientific research in our countr...
Read more