There is hardly a person who walks the earth today who has not been affected by cancer in some way. While many cancer research centers are closing in on discoveries which could one day save the lives of countless cancer patients, there is also a substantial need for additional funding in order for them to continue their research. This is an area where one movement, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) has started to become a real beacon for hope and support. Just check out what they pulled off at the last World Series, it was truly remarkable:

Stand Up To Cancer is an unprecedented initiative that has brought together many of the major television networks, outspoken public figures, celebrities, entertainment industry executives, and other prominent advocates for cancer research and patient care. Through this incredible collaboration, SU2C looks to finally implement more of these groundbreaking cancer therapies and treatments in the clinic.

How Did SU2C Come to Be?

The Stand Up To Cancer initiative was originally conceived and orchestrated through the creative endeavors of the Executive Leadership Council for the Entertainment Industry Foundation. They formed this initiative on one firm belief that all of them shared. Presently, scientists and researchers have a fairly strong understanding of the basic mechanisms of cancer, and with state of the art technology at their disposal, there has never been a better time to take our understanding to the next level. For them, this best way to accomplish this would be to apply this wealth of knowledge in the clinics, and this could produce tangible advances in patient care and cancer prevention.

Through the success of this movement, these endeavors could help millions of people throughout the world who will be facing cancer. In 2008, the launch of Stand Up To Cancer was marked with its very first syndicated telecast. Since then, SU2C has been able to raise more than $109 million for ongoing cancer research, and it now provides crucial funding for 26 Innovative Research Grant (IRG) recipients, which encompass a collaboration of more than 336 medical researchers hailing from more than 65 acclaimed institutions, and 7 interdisciplinary Dream Teams.

What is the Goal of SU2C?

To put it simply, the primary goal of Stand Up To Cancer is to help raise the funding that is required in order to ensure that the most promising cancer research projects are brought to fruition. However, in doing this, this initiative will also help to bring together many of the best scientific minds from around the world who are literally on the cusp of groundbreaking discoveries which can provide the most direct benefits for cancer patients in the shortest amount of time.

Who decides which Research Projects will be funded?

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) was selected as the scientific partner for SU2C, and this means that it is up to them to conduct expert reviews of various cancer research projects. AACR will then provide grants to their selected research studies via the one and only “blue ribbon” Scientific Advisory Committee.

This committee is currently headed by the Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, as well as William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D, director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University and Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

How are the Donations to SU2C Allocated?

The large majority of donations to Stand Up To Cancer (about 70%) will be used to directly fund the work of the most best and brightes medical researchers in the field, these guys will be working together as the multi-disciplinary “Dream Teams”. With the funding provided by SU2C, they will continue to pursue the most promising research leads, accelerating the advance of new breakthroughs and discoveries in treatment and prevention methods. By providing the necessary resources, SU2C is ensuring the greatest chance of success for these cancer research Dream Teams.

Then a smaller portion of the donations (around 20%) will be used to support research proposals that have been deemed high-risk/high-reward projects. These are the sort of proposals that often times don’t receive funding via the more conventional sources, but never-the-less they have the potential to provide exponential improvement for cancer patients everywhere. Finally, the remaining portion of the donations sent to SU2C is re-invested back into the initiative in order to ensure their ongoing ability to provide the needed funding for future cutting-edge research.

Would you like to make a Donation?

Anyone who is interested in learning more about this initiative can visit their website at StandUp2Cancer.org, and there are plenty of ways you can support the cause:

• Make a direct donation using the SU2C online donation form.
• SU2C also provides visitors with a method of honoring those they have known who have been diagnosed with cancer. For as little as a dollar, visitors can launch a star in honor of their loved ones with the SU2C Constellation Program.
• If you are a baseball fan, you may have seen the Stand Up To Cancer spotlight in game one of the World Series this year. Now SU2C has an interactive application on Facebook which has helped to show how entire communities have been connected through these diseases.