Relay & Research: A Lifesaving Partnership

Kasandra Riley, PhD, pictured above, a current American Cancer Society-funded researcher at Yale University, recently spoke at the 2010 national Relay For Life leadership summit about her research and what it means to be connected to Relay For Life and Relay participants who are working so hard to raise research dollars.

Click here to hear Riley's complete presentation. It will make you feel fantastic about your involvement  in Relay!

"ACS is known for supporting post-doctoral fellows because of their commitment to start-up funding, which helps young scientists establish their first independent funding so we can get our foot in the door.  With an ACS fellowship on our record, we are much more eligible to receive future funding. Having an American Cancer Society fellowship is a very big honor," she said.

About Relayers and research, Kasandra says, "We cannot do our work without you, and the more work you do, the more work we can do.  Great strides can be made through research and this translates in actual differences in people's lives.  And if you'd seen me trying to sell Girl Scout cookies you'd know I'm not a fundraiser, but it turns out I can do research.  So you do what you do and I'll do what I do, and it's truly together as a partnership that we can accomplish these goals."   

In FY10, the New England Division was also able to fund 9 top-rated cancer researchers for whom there were insufficient national funds available. Since 2002, 73 of these “pay-if ” scientists have been similarly supported by the New England Division, with $15.5 million raised here.

Click here to see what projects are currently funded in your state.

Since 1946, the American Cancer Society has invested more than $3.6 billion in scientific research to help understand cancer’s causes, determine how best to prevent it and find new cures. Forty-six Nobel Prize winners began their careers with an American Cancer Society grant.

As of April 4, 2012, the American Cancer Society is funding 140 research grants totaling more than $60 million at 31 institutions throughout New England:

    
-  23 grants totaling $9.8 million in Connecticut
-  1 grant totaling $720,000 in Maine
- 102 grants totaling $41.5 million in Massachusetts
-  6 grants totaling $2.9 million in New Hampshire
-  6 grants totaling $4.1 million in Rhode Island
-  2 grants totaling $865,000 $1 in Vermont 

The American Cancer Society’s research program and the impact your Relay dollars are having are a major point of pride. Don’t hesitate to brag a bit and tell people about how you are helping to Find Cures!

Photo: Kasandra Riley, PhD, a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine at Yale, is shown pipetting Liquid Broth - bacterial growth media used to prepare cells for expansion.