A Message from the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation (UCCRF) Women’s Board President

The University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Women’s Board welcomes your interest in cancer research.  Despite increasing survival rates, cancer is the nation’s second most deadly disease and will kill more than one-half a million Americans in 2008.  However, we are making significant progress in bringing cancer under control, thanks to superior research and our growing understanding of the disease.

As one of the country’s premier institutions for the research, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, the University of Chicago has received national and international recognition.  Our researchers have received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology and the President’s Medal of Science, and the university has been consistently rated among the top U.S. cancer institutions by U.S. News and World Report.

Through an impressive 60-year history of funding faculty recruitment and research, the Women’s Board has helped to foster and sustain a remarkable continuum of scientific excellence.  Funds raised by our foundation help support the University’s ground-breaking research in the fields of cancer genetics, immunology, drug development, advanced imaging and bioinformatics.  Here are a few examples of how the Women’s Board is making a difference in cancer research:

• Our investments in the field of genetics and proteomics have helped to establish drug discovery efforts which focus on an individual’s genetic make-up and will be the foundation of future customized cancer treatments.

• The board has supported the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research since its creation by Nobel Laureate Dr. Charles Huggins.  The Board helped fund Dr. Huggins’ fundamental work in hormonal therapy for prostate cancer and has enabled our researchers to build upon his discoveries.  The ground-breaking work of Dr. Geoffrey Greene, for example, has expanded our understanding of the relationships between the hormone estrogen and breast cancer.

• Our support of the Committee on Cancer Biology, which provides unique educational experiences for young researchers of enormous promise, has resulted in the development of one of the world’s very best cancer research degree-granting programs. 

• We have facilitated the establishment and expansion of many shared facilities, such as the Functional Genomics and Monoclonal Antibody facility and cGMP facility.  These facilities provide advanced technologies and expertise vital to research that makes the difference in the battle against malignancy.

• We are funding initiatives in the newest fields of Bioinformatics and Clinical Informatics, which will allow both for integration of biomedical research data across multiple domains (specifically in the areas of breast cancer and lung cancer) and expand the functionality of the system that protects critical information related to clinical trials.

A donation to the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Women’s Board is an investment in one of the nation’s leading cancer research institutions, advancing breakthroughs that will help people around the world.  Moreover, as one of an elite corps of National Cancer Institute-designated Clinical Cancer Centers, the University of  Chicago Cancer Research Center is constantly sharing new treatment and prevention trial successes with the entire web of NCI network hospitals, and their patients everywhere.  You can be certain that your gift will have both local and global impact.

Thank you for giving us your serious consideration.  Join us in the quest toward making cancer a thing of the past.

Sincerely,

Barb Sessions
Women’s Board President