FRIENDS OF CANCER RESEARCH HISTORY

Friends of Cancer Research was founded by Ellen V. Sigal, PhD in September 1996 to mark the anniversary of the National Cancer Act. Since its inception, Friends has engaged in a variety of activities geared to raising awareness and providing public education on cancer research in order to accelerate the nation's progress toward prevention and treatment of cancer. Highlights of our past accomplishments include:

Public Private Partnership
On July 22, 2002 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson announced the launch of the public-private partnership "Overcoming Barriers to Early Phase Clinical Trials." The American Association of Cancer Institutes (AACI) proposed the partnership, and Friends developed this groundbreaking collaborative effort between the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), and five pharmaceutical companies: Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novartis. The public-private partnership makes approximately $6 million available to NCI-funded cancer centers interested in designing new approaches to overcoming barriers to early clinical trials.

• The partnership provides funding for five to eight cancer centers, selected on the basis of innovative responses to an RFA (request for application).
• Cancer centers will focus on developing a spectrum of exportable models that NCI cancer centers can use to increase and sustain accrual rates of patients in communities across the country.
• The end result for cancer centers and patients is an enhanced national capability to test promising therapeutic agents and to expand the current 3 to 4 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients in trials.

In addition to the Secretary, remarks were given by:

Dr. Solomon H. Snyder, Board Member, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
Dr. Ellen V. Sigal, PhD, Chairperson, Friends of Cancer Research
Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Director, National Institutes of Health
Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, Director, National Cancer Institute
Dr. John Kelly, Senior Vice President, PhRMA

The announcement of the launch appeared in a July 22 article in The Wall Street Journal.

LA Times OP-ED
On July 22, 2002 an op-ed appeared in the Los Angles Times that was written by our board members, Sherry Lansing, Chairwoman of Paramount Studios, and General Norman H. Schwarzkopf. The op-ed discussed the importance of participating in clinical trials.

Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Friends managed a booth at this three-day event in 2001, where staff distributed materials about the organization and its member organizations. Friends was chosen by the Entertainment Industry Foundation as a beneficiary of Courage for Cancer, a fundraiser that is a major component of the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon, which distributes its proceeds to women's cancer research. Friends chairperson Ellen Sigal, PhD, spoke at a dinner hosted by Courage for Cancer, where she praised participants for their dedication to raising funds for cancer research. At this event, more than 300 individuals raised nearly half a million dollars for women's cancer research.

"Progress and Promise of Cancer Research" Town Hall Meetings
A signature strength for Friends lies in its ability to deliver a series of regional town hall meetings across the country. These town halls were designed to facilitate a dialogue among policymakers, National Cancer Institute leaders, and members of the cancer research community. Friends worked closely with NCI leadership, cancer treatment centers, and members of Congress in order to make these town halls part of its public education outreach.

Partners for town halls include:

• Robert Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern University
• University of Chicago Cancer Center
• H. Lee Moffit Cancer Research Center in Tampa
• Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia
• University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center
• University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
• Arkansas Cancer Research Center
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• Columbia-Presbyterian Cancer Center
• Albert Einstein Cancer Center
• New York University's Kaplan Cancer Center
• Barbara Ann Karamanos Cancer Institute in Detroit
• University of Michigan
• James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus
• Cancer Research and treatment Center at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center

Key congressional leaders who participated in Friends' town halls include:

• Chairman John Porter (R-Ill.) of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
• Chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.) of the House Appropriations Committee
• Chairman Michael Bilirakis (R-Fla.) of the House Subcommittee on Health
• Rep. Dan Miller (R-Fla.), a member of Chairman Porter's critical subcommittee
• Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
• Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) of the Senate Budget Committee

THE MARCH…Coming Together to Cure Cancer, Washington, D.C.
Friends was invited to serve on the steering committee of THE MARCH, which united cancer survivors, families, scientists and the public in a critical campaign to place the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer at the top of research and health care priorities for government officials and citizens. Friends chairperson Dr. Ellen Sigal acted as co-chairperson for THE MARCH, and Friends board member Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf acted as its Honorary Chair. Ellen Sigal co-chaired a research task force formed in conjunction with the March that issued a report documenting the need and opportunities to accelerate progress in the war on cancer and providing a road map by which to achieve a cure.

Survivors* Speak Out Week
Friends organized a public education campaign in April 1997 called Survivors* Speak Out Week to educate Members of Congress throughout the country on the importance of cancer research, together with the American Cancer Society, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, American Association for Cancer Research, National Coalition of Cancer Research, Research America, Oncology Nursing Society, and American Society of Clinical Oncology.