Friday, August 26, 2011

Funding Research Saves Lives

Yesterday, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted some of Alabama's congressional delegation staff for a briefing on the importance of sustained funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for cancer research. This event was co-hosted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS-CAN) and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).

We collectively briefed the staffers on the important role that the Cancer Center plays nationally in translational cancer research (moving findings from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside) and how NIH funding not only sustains our advances in cancer research, but also provides significant economic impact to our city and region.

Speakers included Robert Morris, Vice President of Health Initiatives for the American Cancer Society's Mid-South Division; Dr. Richard Marchase, Vice President of Research and Economic Development at UAB; Molly Daniels, Deputy President of ACS-CAN; Dr. Warner Huh, a Cancer Center gynecologic oncologist; and Dr. Carol Garrison, UAB President.

We also had a very passionate and excellent presentation by Allison Lancaster, a cervical cancer survivor from Dothan, who spoke about how important research was to her during her cancer experience. Ms. Lancaster is a perfect example of the power of research and why we as cancer researchers do the work we do - to save lives.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

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