The Cancer Center's Economic Impact

Did you know that for every dollar the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center receives, we can leverage that for as much as $14 from external funding sources, including federal agencies such as the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health.

Turning $1 into $14 makes a definite economic impact, not just at UAB, but across Birmingham. Learn more by watching this short video, and then visit our website to find out how you can get involved in helping us achieve our vision of eliminating cancer as a major public health problem!

Why Give Wednesday: Childhood Cancer

Every year in the United States, approximately 13,400 children between the ages of birth and 19 are diagnosed with cancer. Every day, 36 children are diagnosed with cancer, with the average age of diagnosis at just 6 years old. That's one to two cases for every 10,000 children in the United States.

In Alabama, 150 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. Childhood cancers are the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States, with approximately 2,500 children dying from the disease annually.

But there is hope. While incidence rates for some types of childhood cancers have remained steady over the last 20 years, five-year survival rates have dramatically improved. Today, a child diagnosed with cancer stands an 80 percent chance of beating the disease.

“That’s up from 50 percent just 20 years ago,” says Raymond Watts, M.D., director of the UAB Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. “However, that still leaves 20 percent of children who don’t survive. So even though we’ve made tremendous improvements, we still face significant challenges.”

To address this, the Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, Children’s of Alabama, the Children’sOncology Group and the National Cancer Institute recently formed the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. This unique partnership is focused on unifying local and national resources to improve and enhance childhood cancer care, research and education.

"Our goal is finding a total cure through research and development of innovative therapies,” Dr. Watts says. “We’re also researching ways to lessen the risks of treatment, both short-term and long-term, while allowing children to return to normal activities after their treatments are complete.”

Because while survival rates for childhood cancers have improved, they do come with a cost. Two-thirds of survivors face at least one chronic health condition, and as many as 25 percent face a late-effect considered severe or life-threatening. Some late effects of childhood cancers include: infertility, cardiotoxicity (heart problems at an early age), learning difficulties, audiovisual problems, hearing loss, and the most frightening possibility, second cancers.

Supporting research is critical to eliminating childhood cancer as well as the long-term effects that survivors face. Only about 4 percent of the National Institutes for Health's annual budget is currently dedicated to pediatric cancer research. You can make a difference by making a gift on our website or by visiting Children's of Alabama.

Why Give Wednesday - The Patient and Family Resource Center at UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center

Support Cancer Patient Resources

The Patient and Family Resource Center at UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center provides a comfortable place to find support. If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with cancer, the Patient and Family Resource Center staff can answer your questions about the illness, treatment options, and available support services. 

The Patient and Family Resource Center provides information on prevention, early detection, disease- specific cancers, treatments, side effects, clinical trials, complementary therapies, stress management, fatigue, spirituality, grief, financial and employment support, emotional care, children’s concerns and end-of-life care. We have free computer access and personal assistance available to help you find reliable information. We also offer roundtable discussions, support groups, one-on-on support, self-advocacy support, patient navigation, creative and complementary programs and Living with Cancer seminars with cancer experts. 

Your donation can be directed to the Patient and Family Resource Center. It's donations like these that are important to keep programs like this alive for the benefit of those in need. For more information, visit our website or contact the Director of Education and Support Services, Teri Hoenemeyer, at (205) 934-5772.

Fiesta Ball 2014

Just two weeks from today, on May 1st, we will celebrate our annual annual Fiesta Ball, hosted by the Young Supporters Board (YSB) of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. This is a fun and festive evening with Mexican food, drinks and live music, and an event that has become one of the most popular among Birmingham's young professionals.

Proceeds from the Fiesta Ball will benefit young cancer scientists at UAB. In tough economic times, federal funding for cancer research is extremely difficult for scientists to obtain. And if you're a young scientist just beginning your career, it's even more difficult. These young researchers are having to compete against more experienced and established scientists for grant funding. In other words, there's more competition, but less money available.

This is why events such as the Fiesta Ball are so important. Over the last few years, the YSB has been funding Young Investigator Grants, which go to cancer scientists at UAB who have been on campus less than five years. These grants are already showing results - David Schneider, Ph.D., the recipient of the first grant in 2008, was able to conduct research that allowed him to leverage that $40,000 grant into one for $1.2 million from the National Cancer Institute!  

We hope you will join us for this year's Fiesta Ball to help us make a difference in the fight against cancer!

What: Fiesta Ball 2014
When: Thursday, May 1st, 6 p.m.
Where: B&A Warehouse
Tickets: $30 in advance/$35 at the door
To purchase tickets, or for more information: www.uab.edu/fiestaball

BCRFA Presents Annual Donation

BCRFA Co-Founders Bruce Sokol and Dolly O'Neal,
2014 Honoree Jean Thompson and
CCC Director Dr. Ed Partridge

Last week, I had the pleasure of accepting, on behalf of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, this year's donation from one of the Cancer Center's most loyal and longstanding community partners, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama. 

The BCRFA hosts events and other fundraising opportunities throughout the year, and in turn donates all of its proceeds to the Cancer Center for breast cancer research. This year these dedicated volunteers presented us with a check for $500,000!

The Cancer Center hosted a special luncheon for the BCRFA and several of its supporters, which gave us the opportunity to present updates on the research being funded by their donation. Dr. Andres Forero, one of our leading breast cancer specialists, explained several promising research projects that could potentially change the way some breast cancers are treated. Many of those projects involve drugs and therapeutic agents developed here at UAB, using the very money provided by the BCRFA.   

What began as a small grassroots effort with just a few people has turned into an amazing organization that, to date, has raised more than $4.5 million for breast cancer research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. That support has helped turn the Cancer Center's breast cancer research and clinical enterprise into one of the premier programs in the United States.

The support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama is critical to our success here at the Cancer Center, and I am proud to have them as a community partner. I again want to thank the BCRFA board and staff for all of their hard work in taking the organization forward. They truly set the standard for a group who wants to make a difference in the fight against cancer. The Cancer Center and I thank them for their support.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Rally for Medical Research

Today, I had the opportunity to participate in the Rally for Medical Research in Washington, D.C. More than 80 national organizations and institutions are participating in this effort to call on our nation's policymakers to make life-saving medical research funding a priority. The goal is raise awareness among members of Congress and the general public about the critical need for a sustained investment in the National Institutes of Health, which is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world.

I've written previously about the importance of funding medical research and how in today's economic climate, that funding is tougher than ever to receive. That still holds true today. Now even more so, because sequestration is slashing the NIH budget by 5.1 percent, or approximately $1.5 billion. This makes it extremely difficult to keep pace with the rate of biomedical inflation.

Funding for research does more than just save lives. It also fuels the economy and creates jobs. NIH funding supports research by 325,000 scientists at more than 3,000 universities and other entities across the United States, including the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. Thanks to that research, we have made unprecedented advances in science and medicine that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Now is the time for us to move full steam ahead, and not linger behind.

If you would like to see an end to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and other diseases, I encourage you to contact your congressional representative and tell them to make funding for medical research a national priority. All of our lives depend on it.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Another Broken Record

Today, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center received an extremely generous donation from one of its most loyal and longstanding community partners, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama. The BCRFA hosts events and other fundraising opportunities throughout the year, and in turn donates all of its proceeds to the Cancer Center for breast cancer research. 

In a way, today felt like a bit of deja vu. It was just one year ago when I accepted what was, at the time, the Foundation's largest donation yet, which had surpassed their record total from the year prior. And today, the BCRFA broke their record again when they presented the Cancer Center with a check for $550,000 - their largest contribution yet, topping last year's record by $50,000.

The Cancer Center hosted a special luncheon today for the BCRFA and several of its supporters, which gave us the opportunity to present updates on the research being funded by their donation. Dr. Andres Forero, one of our leading breast cancer specialists, explained several promising research projects that could potentially change the way some breast cancers are treated. One of those projects involves a drug known as Tigatuzumab, which was developed here at UAB.  

What began as a small grassroots effort with just a few people has turned into an amazing organization that, to date, has raised more than $4 million for breast cancer research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. That support has helped turn the Cancer Center's breast cancer research and clinical enterprise into one of the premier programs in the United States.

The support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama is critical to our success here at the Cancer Center, and I am proud to have them as a community partner. I want to thank the BCRFA board and staff - especially outgoing president Dianne Mooney - for all of their hard work in taking the organization forward. They truly set the standard for a group who wants to make a difference in the fight against cancer. I thank them for their support.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Young Professionals Help the Cancer Center Spring Ahead

Spring is always a busy time of year, and the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is no exception to that. Today I had the privilege of attending the quarterly meeting of our Young Supporters Board, which is busily preparing for its annual fundraiser, Fiesta Ball 2012.

It always amazes and inspires me to see the tremendous energy and enthusiasm these young professionals have for the fight against cancer. Each one of them has been touched by cancer in some way and have chosen to give back and make a difference.

Today we had the pleasure of watching a video from the Cancer Center's Life Stories series, which featured Mary Ann Harvard, a charter member of the YSB and a five-time survivor of Hodgkin's lymphoma. By sharing her story, Mary Ann serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of research and why we do the work that we do.

I encourage you to watch Mary Ann's video and learn more about the YSB by visiting our website or YouTube. We would also love for you to join us to celebrate Cinco de Mayo for a cause at Fiesta Ball 2012 on May 3 at B&A Warehouse. You can learn more about that event (and purchase tickets) by clicking here.

Again, the support of our community is critical to the mission and success of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. As always, I thank you for everything you do to help us achieve our vision of eliminating cancer as a major public health problem.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

A Record-Breaking Investment

On Saturday, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted its annual ArtBLINK Gala at The Kirklin Clinic. I am extremely proud and excited to report that this year's solicitation campaign, led by the center's Advisory Board, raised nearly $1.5 million for the Cancer Center's Fund for Excellence. This is by far our biggest fundraising total ever!

The Fund for Excellence allows us to have flexible dollars that can be used to support high-priority areas where money is the most-needed. This includes research projects, recruiting new physicians and scientists, and services for patients and their families. With this money, we can invest in promising initiatives and help them grow into major successes.

Of course, I have to thank everyone who donated to our efforts this year, as well as all of our corporate sponsors. I also want to thank each of our 18 artists who shared their talents with us by creating artwork for our guests, which brought in an additional $28,000 to our total. The support of our community is critical to the Cancer Center's success, so believe me when I say that we couldn't do what we do without you!

I look forward to another great event in 2013 and to sharing our successes thanks to your investment in us - the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Tremendous Thanks for a Tremendous Gift

BCRFA President Dianne Mooney
presents this year's donation.

Today, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center received an extremely generous donation from one of its most loyal and longstanding community partners, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama. The BCRFA hosts events and other fundraising opportunities throughout the year, and in turn donates all of its proceeds to the Cancer Center for breast cancer research. I was extremely grateful and proud to accept their donation today of $500,000 - their largest contribution yet, topping last year's record by $100,000.

Particularly rewarding today was honoring the two people who started the BCRFA. Dolly O'Neal and Bruce Sokol are two friends who came together with a joint purpose and a common goal: funding the research that would lead to a cure for breast cancer. What began as a small effort with just a few people has turned into an amazing organization that, to date, has raised more than $3 million for breast cancer research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.


That is one reason why it was so exciting to announce that in honor of Dolly and Bruce, the University of Alabama Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the O'Neal-Sokol Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama Endowed Professorship at its most recent meeting. This represents the tremendous impact they have had in the fight against cancer.


Part of that impact has been helping turn the Cancer Center's breast cancer research and clinical enterprise into one of the premier programs in the United States. And one of our leading breast cancer specialists is Dr. Andres Forero, who was also approved by the Board of Trustees to be the inaugural recipient of the new professorship. Dr. Forero has become a nationally recognized leader in the research and treatment of breast cancer, and the Cancer Center is extremely proud of his success and work.

The support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama is critical to our success here at the Cancer Center, and I am proud to have them as a community partner. They truly set the standard for a group who wants to make a difference in the fight against cancer. I thank them for their support.


-Ed Partridge, M.D.

A World of Limitless Possibilities

Last night, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted "Progress & Promise," its annual address to the community. This is a chance for the general public to hear about the advancements made at the Cancer Center during the past year, as well as future plans for 2012 and beyond.

This year's program highlighted two important aspects of the Cancer Center. The first being that 2011 marked the center's 40th anniversary. While the seeds of UAB's cancer program were first planted in 1968 with the death of Governor Lurleen B. Wallace from cancer, the Cancer Center really took shape in 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer by signing the National Cancer Act. This piece of legislation established "comprehensive" cancer centers that would be at the forefront of cancer research, treatment and education. UAB was designated one of the first of these centers, and it has maintained that prestigious status ever since.

Too Much Pink? Or Not Enough?

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, it's been incredibly rewarding to see the sheer number of pink events that have occurred across our community this year. It seems that October gets "pinker" every year, which I think is a very great thing.

But for some, the question has arisen: Is there too much pink, and is it glamorizing breast cancer? To answer the first part of that question, I say no. The amount of awareness generated by pink events is tremendous, and even more importantly, the amount of research dollars raised has allowed us to make significant advancements in the understanding and treatment of the disease. As I've said many times before, research is the foundation for eliminating cancer, and without it, all cancers - including breast cancer - would be a death sentence, like they were just a few decades ago.

As for whether breast cancer is becoming glamorous, it is important to remember the realities of this disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 230,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2011, and more than 39,000 deaths will occur because of it. And while the overall five-year survival rate is around 89 percent, it is still the second-leading cause of cancer death among women (after lung cancer).

I do, however, encourage you to do your research to make sure your donations go to the right cause or organization, such as the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, or us at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, where 100 percent of your donation will go directly toward research.

So, is there too much pink? No, there isn't. But we need more colors! For instance, November is both lung cancer and pancreatic cancer awareness month. Wouldn't it be great to see Birmingham covered in pearl for lung cancer and purple for pancreatic cancer? Or in teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in September? Or dark blue for March's Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month? We should not, and must not, limit cancer awareness for one month out of the year.

Cancer is a 24-7-365 fight, and we need to be all in this together. I thank you for your support!

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Big News During a Busy Month

October has gotten off to an extremely busy start here at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center! We began the month by announcing the renewal of our National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation as a "comprehensive" cancer center - a status that we have maintained for 40 years.

Our NCI designation is what sets us apart in our state and region. We are the only comprehensive cancer center in Alabama, and the only one in the Deep South area that stretches from South Carolina to Louisiana and Arkansas. To maintain this designation, we must undergo a rigorous and extensive review process every five years in which members of our peer institutions across the country travel to our center to examine every aspect of our research enterprise.

During our most recent review, we received an excellent rating, with special emphasis placed on our community outreach and population-based studies and our translational research (moving scientific findings from the laboratory setting to the patient bedside). Our renewed grant is $27.5-million for the next five years, which allows us to maintain and grow our infrastructure that allows our scientists to conduct the cutting-edge research that we are known for.

On Monday,  to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Birmingham News "turned pink" for the second year in an effort to increase cancer awareness. This year, the paper extended its coverage to all cancers, and not just breast cancer. I was especially pleased to see that our Cancer Center was featured prominently in several stories.

Of course, with this being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, there are lots of events happening in our community to support this cause. Our friends and partners at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama have a tremendous number of events happening in October, from motorcycle rides to shopping nights to a restaurant week to pink ribbon bagels. I encourage you to visit their website or the Cancer Center's for a listing of all the great community events that you can become a part of!

We must remember that awareness for ALL cancers is a year-round activity, and the support of our community is critical in helping us achieve our mission of eliminating cancer as a public health problem. On behalf of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, I thank you for your support.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

All Together Making a Difference

I have spoken many times about the importance of federal funding for cancer research, which is critical to our success in the fight against this disease. Today, the American Association for Cancer Research released a landmark report, the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011, which is a call to action for the general public and lawmakers to intensify their efforts in supporting cancer and biomedical research.

The report highlights all the progress that we have made in the 40 years since President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act on December 23, 1971. What used to be a death sentence is now, in many cases, a very manageable disease, as evidenced by the more than 12 million cancer survivors living in the United States today.

But there is still work to be done. In the United States alone, more than 570,000 people died from cancer in 2010. That's more than one person every minute of every day. And that is far too many.

I urge you to read the AACR report, which you can find here. I also encourage you to support cancer research by making a donation to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, where 100 percent of your money will go toward research, or by contacting your congressional representative and urging them to increase the government's support in the fight against cancer. It will take all of us working together to make a difference and beat this disease.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Firefighters Fighting Cancer

Yesterday, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with some special men who are raising awareness of women's cancers in a unique way.

The "Pink Heals" tour made a stop at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center yesterday to kick off a statewide "Cares Enough to Wear Pink" t-shirt campaign. The Pink Heals tour is a a national non-profit led by firefighters who bring awareness to all women’s cancers by touring the country in pink firetrucks and pink uniforms. The tour’s mission is to celebrate women by wearing “her color,” to fight cancer alongside women and to help local non-profits raise money and awareness.


During their stop at the Cancer Center, these firefighters visited with cancer patients and community members, posing for photos and sharing their stories. As part of the tour, people can even sign the firetrucks with their own inspirational messages. I was happy to add my name to that list, and I was pleased to see such an enthusiastic response from everyone who came out to meet the firefighters.


Special thanks to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama for coordinating this great event, and thank you to these brave men who are working so hard to increase awareness for women's cancers. 


-Ed Partridge, M.D.

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.

Exporting Expertise

Yesterday, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center unveiled the UAB Cancer Care Network, an affiliation between the Cancer Center and community cancer centers and hospitals in Alabama and Georgia that provides access to the latest discoveries in cancer research and offers an unmatched level of expert cancer treatments in those communities. This is an incredibly exciting initiative that will allow us to bring leading-edge care to these communities, giving patients an opportunity to stay close to home while giving doctors and nurses access to leading cancer research.

Comprehensive cancer centers, such as ours at UAB, offer the highest levels of research and patient care. We set the standards that community hospitals follow. Our goal with the UAB Cancer Care Network is to make that expertise and knowledge available to every man and woman in our region.

One of the most important aspects of the network is that cancer patients at our partner hospitals will have access to the Cancer Center’s vast research enterprise, including our clinical trials that often feature therapies developed at UAB and unavailable elsewhere. The network allows us to bring all of these resources to patients while allowing them to stay close to home and their support system, which is so crucial.

I hope you will learn more about the UAB Cancer Care Network, and as always, thank you for supporting YOUR UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Celebrating Survivors, Celebrating Life

Tomorrow, June 4, 2011, we at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center - along with several other cancer-related organizations across Birmingham - will celebrate Cancer Survivors Day. The National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation defines a "survivor" as anyone living with a history of cancer, from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life.

When I first start treating cancer patients 30 years ago, a cancer diagnosis was one of the most devastating things a patient could hear. At that time, the five-year survival rate was only 45 percent - meaning that less than half of people diagnosed with cancer would still be alive five years later.

Fortunately, advances in research and improved treatments have caused that number to steadily increase over the years. Today, the five-year survival rate across all cancers is 65 percent. Statistics have also shown that since 1991, every day approximately 350 people become cancer survivors who would have died of the disease in years prior. Of course, we are still working to raise those numbers, but this is a long way from where we once were.

Cancer Survivors Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the more than 11 million Americans who are survivors thanks to the hard work of scientists, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals across the nation. If you are a survivor, or if you're family has been touched by cancer, I invite you to come celebrate with us at the Pepper Place Saturday Market, beginning at 7 a.m. We will have live music, dancing, children's activities, cooking demonstrations, educational activities and much more.

Someone diagnosed with cancer today is much more likely to survive than die of the disease, and if that's not a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is! I hope you'll join us to Celebrate Life!

-Ed Partridge, M.D.  

 

Cancer Cures Need Cancer Research

May is National Cancer Research Month, and we at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center are taking this opportunity to recognize all of our scientists who work every day toward our goal of eliminating cancer as a major public health problem.

I say "all" of our scientists, because cancer research is truly a team effort. From the basic scientists who nurture the research in its earliest stages to the clinician-scientists who take the lead in translating those laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients, cancer research is a long and strenuous process.

Research is critical to finding a cure. Every treatment starts in a lab. Take, for example, a drug called tigatuzumab. This is an antibody that was developed right here at the Cancer Center, and after years of testing in the lab and in preclinical models, we have now launched a nationwide clinical trial to offer the drug to patients with triple negative breast cancer. This is incredibly exciting, and seeing work like this come to fruition is the reward of conducting research.

That's just one example of the Cancer Center's research success, and I encourage you to visit our website to learn more or to make a gift to support research. We have some of the best and brightest minds in the country working around the clock to find the next generation of cancer cures. I salute those in the laboratories and the clinics and everywhere in between for the long hours they put in and the sacrifices they make for their work. I think I speak for everyone who has been touched by cancer when I say: THANK YOU!

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo for a Cause

Tonight, May 5th, is the 5th annual Fiesta Ball, hosted by the Young Supporters Board of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. This is a fun and festive evening with Mexican food, drinks and live music, and an event that I look forward to every year.

This year, however, our hearts and minds are certainly with all of those in our community affected by last week's devastating tornados. So while we celebrate Cinco de Mayo and our progress in the fight against cancer, we're also taking this opportunity to help tornado victims across Alabama. Tonight we will be collecting toiletries, cleaning supplies and bottled water to be donated to the Salvation Army for their local relief efforts. For those who bring a donation to the Fiesta Ball, they will receive $5 off the ticket price.

I encourage you to join us at Innovation Depot tonight at 6 p.m. for what is truly a great event. The money we raise will benefit young cancer scientists at UAB, and we will also have a silent auction filled with fabulous items to raise money for the board's Patient and Family Services Committee.

I am always amazed and proud of the passion and energy that the Young Supporters Board has for the fight against cancer. These young professionals are leading the way and helping us find a cure. I hope you will join us in celebrating for a cause.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.