***LET'S SEE IF WE CAN FUND THE FULL RESEARCH GRANT!***

Less than $10,000 to go!

Oh and do check out the new video, which gives you a picture of what these funds support.

Thanks to all of you who called your congressional representatives on Advocacy Day!

 

FROM RANDI ENGLE (my picture would be on this page, but the graph and video are more important):

Thank you for joining me, my family and friends to support the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's visionary effort to dramatically increase funding for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

My goal is to raise enough funds to support a small research grant to an emerging researcher or even an innovation grant to a senior researcher.

To give you a sense of the difference this can make, please check out a video from one of the current recipients of one of these research grants, Zeshaan Rasheed, an MD/PhD working as a fellow at Johns Hopkins University on one of the biggest mysteries about pancreatic cancer: why don't chemo drugs kill pancreatic cancer stem cells? 

Donating to this effort is the best hope for me and others like me to live long and healthy lives with this dread disease.

Despite being one of the 5 leading causes of cancer death and having one of the highest mortality rates, pancreatic cancer received just 2% of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) funding in 2009.   And as you can hopefully just see in the graph above, pancreatic cancer has consistently received much less NCI funding than each of the other 4 deadliest cancers. 

Pancreatic cancer is usually caught too late for most people to have time to get their affairs in order, let alone to launch a major fundraising drive.  Fortunately, I'm one of the lucky ones whose cancer was caught soon enough for me to raise funds that can make a difference for both me and others.

The only way this disease is going to be beaten is if researchers are given the kinds of sustained funding that's been provided to diseases like polio, AIDS, and breast cancer.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's RAISE THE CURE initiative (see www.pancan.org/section_donate/ways_to_give/research_portfolio.php) builds on these successful efforts by working to support a research community committed to finding a cure for pancreatic cancer.  It's a multi-pronged approach that combines funding for its own peer-reviewed grants to spearhead innovations plus lobbying for a major pancreatic cancer research initiative at the NCI.

I hope you'll be able to join my effort, which I've dubbed RAISE THE CURE FOR RANDI. The most money will go to pancreatic cancer research if you donate directly to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network by phone, fax, mail, email, or online by going to www.pancan.org/section_donate/donate_now.php.  Please be sure to write "RAISE THE CURE FOR RANDI" on the memo line of any check or form you fill out so the donation can be added to our total.  Alternatively, you can use this site, which is simple, fast and also totally secure.  Any major credit card from anywhere in the world should work by either method.

Many thanks for helping me out -- and please share this page with anyone who might want to donate too!  And keep watching this site to see our joint contributions grow!

Also, for other ways to support Pancreatic Cancer Awareness, go to www.knowitfightitendit.org.  You can also learn more about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network at www.pancan.org.

Last but not least, if you'd like to get on my updates email list, please write an email to friendsofrandi@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Randi Engle

p.s. If your employer matches donations, you can use the receipt you will receive to begin the matching process at your employer's HR department.  If you have any trouble, please contact the friendly folks at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network at the link above.