Bringing Cancer Research to Life

Research is crucial for identifying effective treatments and potential cures for cancer. During the month of May, join us as we raise awareness about the important and incredible impact research has on treating and curing people with cancer. 

This year’s National Cancer Research Month theme is “Bringing Cancer Research to Life” and we're celebrating the work our nonprofit members are doing to do just that. Cancer research saves lives and one of the most cost-efficient ways you can help these nonprofits is to donate to them through your employer's workplace giving program Don't have a program? Click here to have your employer contact our team, and click here to learn more about what employee workplace giving is and how it works.

Prevent Cancer Foundation: Investing in early-career research is a key component of the Prevent Cancer Foundation's vision and they've been funding early-career researchers for over 30 years. Their focus is on high-risk, high-reward research projects. With your support, the Foundation awards research grants and fellowships to promising scientists with novel hypotheses for prevention and early detection. The funding is critical to the future of cancer prevention as it fosters the next generation of cancer prevention research, creates a strong foundation of preliminary evidence to make scientific advancements and provides the necessary support for researchers to move toward independent research careers. Click here to learn more. 

Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA): OCRA works every day to fund cures, foster community, further conversations and, ultimately, the cause. OCRA is the largest global organization dedicated to fighting ovarian cancer.  They advance research to prevent, treat and defeat ovarian cancer.  We support women and their families before, during and beyond diagnosis. And they work with all levels of government to ensure ovarian cancer is a priority. A $100 donation can help fund a day of research. Click here to learn more.

Melanoma Research Alliance: The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) is the largest non-profit funder of melanoma research. Since its founding in 2007, MRA has committed $101 million in funding to end suffering and death due to melanoma by collaborating with all stakeholders to accelerate powerful research, advance cures for all patients, and prevent more melanomas. Since MRA’s founding, an unprecedented 12 new therapies have been approved by the FDA to treat melanoma, bringing the total number to 14. Advances in melanoma research are having a ripple effect across the field of oncology. Melanoma has been called the case study for state-of-the-art cancer drug development, precision medicine, and immunotherapy. In fact, therapies that were pioneered in melanoma are now being tested in more than 30 different tumor types. MRA has directly funded 372 investigators at 126 different institutions in 15 countries. Click here to learn more.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is the world's oldest and largest private institution dedicated to the care and control of cancer. Memorial Sloan Kettering was the first institution to successfully perform a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor, a breakthrough that dramatically increased the number of patients for which this lifesaving procedure is available. Memorial Sloan Kettering has also produced more FDA approved drugs for the treatment of cancer in the past four decades than any other single academic institution. Most recently, MSK spearheaded efforts that led to the FDA approval of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and vemurafenib (Zelboraf) for the treatment of advanced melanoma. These drugs represent the first new treatments for this type of cancer in nearly two decades. Each year, MSK counts more than 24,000 inpatient and 500,000 outpatient visits to its main campus in New York City and regional sites. While many of their patients reside in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, many others travel from across the country and around the globe to seek MSK's care. Click here to learn more.

Urology Care Foundation: The Foundation works to fund urologic research and research training in support of innovative treatments to improve the quality of patients’ lives. Since 1975, the Research Awards Program has provided more than 750 outstanding young scientists with over $30 million in research funding dedicated to preventing, diagnosing and treating urologic conditions. Research made possible by the Foundation has led to improvements in patient care such as advances in patient care in prostate cancer, dietary interventions that improve prostate cancer outcomes, more effective treatment of kidney stones, preservation of fertility in male cancer patients and much more.  They support every stage of research to improve the quality of life for patients suffering from urologic disease. Click here to learn more.

CureSearch: Research is the only way to end childhood cancer. But we cannot pursue this goal at the cost of a child’s quality of life or long-term survival. We also cannot wait for the federal funding system to rise above its own bureaucracy in order to spur innovative new treatment options. We need innovative approaches now if the children of tomorrow are going to live long and healthy lives. This is why CureSearch is committed to transcending the broken system by addressing its challenges head on. By accelerating the pace of cancer research via large, long-term commitments to the most novel and promising science, we are driving ever faster to clinical use with patients—not in ten years, not in five, but right now. CureSearch is building the kind of transformative partnerships that will eliminate silos, increase collaboration, encourage invention, and help develop targeted therapies to reduce toxicity and improve quality of life for survivors. Finally, CureSearch is closely measuring and communicating its impact on children and families—every single day.  Accelerate the search. End childhood cancer. Join CureSearch today. Click here to learn more. 

Breast Cancer Research Center: Breast Cancer Research Center is dedicated to support research directed towards the discovery and development of innovative methods to treat and possibly cure breast cancer and the myriad of health issues that affect women.  They provide funding for biomedical research and support scientists to educate their peers and participate in scientific collaborations.  This support provides scientists with necessary lab equipment and supplies, and allows them to establish and maintain relationships with other research scientists throughout the world to collaborate and share all scientific results. Click here to learn more.

Breast Cancer Coaltion: Breast Cancer Coalition is dedicated to knowing how to end breast cancer by January 1, 2020 through the power of grassroots action and advocacy. NBCC is quite different from other breast cancer organizations. They are about challenging the status quo, catalyzing research and science, leveraging existing resources and giving those diagnosed and those at risk of breast cancer the tools to make decisions for themselves. NBCC's achievements range from generating more than $3.3 billion of federal funding for breast cancer research to creating a system of access to health care for uninsured women with breast and cervical cancer to launching international training programs in science and health care; but it's simply not enough. While the vast majority of resources are focused on finding the next treatment, NBCC is doing something very different.  They are bringing together unprecedented collaborations among scientists, visionaries, and advocates to catalyze, plan and implement work in two major areas: how to prevent metastasis to save lives and how to prevent the disease from developing in the first instance.  Click here to learn more.     

LIVESTRONG: LIVESTRONG's research and findings are a large and vital component of the work they do - you can discover how their research impacts the programs and services that they offer to cancer survivors and their loved ones by clicking here. Decades of research and working one-on-one with cancer survivors and their families has given LIVESTRONG an informed understanding of some of the largest challenges cancer patients face: chronic pain, loss of fertility, emotional distress, family instability, career impact and long-term financial hardships. They are bringing this knowledge and research to the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes. Click here to learn more.