Lorraine Egan, President & Chief Executive Officer, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

We look at cancer research from a different vantage point than most.  We are uniquely focused on the people that make breakthroughs happen.  They are the most important explorers of our generation, and our unsung heroes.

The goal of this new blog from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is multi-faceted.  We will highlight the important discoveries being made, from the most basic to those directly impacting patients.  We will discuss what we see working in biomedical research, as well as impediments that need disruptive ideas.  Most importantly, we will put the scientists dedicated to this work front and center.  Who are they?  What new ideas do they have?  What motivates them? What challenges do they face?  Our goal is to bring them and their bold, innovative work into the light with the hope that it inspires our generation to be the one that ends suffering from all forms of cancer.

For example, here is what motivates Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Alex Kentsis, MD, PhD:

“In the movies, scientists are portrayed as having a “eureka moment” – that singular moment in time when their faces change and they find the answer.  In practice, research is a lot of persistence and teamwork.  So it’s hard to say what a “eureka moment” would look like in my research.  Maybe it’s when I’m finally able to look patients and parents in the eye and say with confidence that we have what’s needed to cure them.  All oncologists hunger for that knowledge.  We want to take this impenetrable mass of data and finally reach the point where we never have to give another “percent chance of survival.” Because that chance will always be one hundred percent.”

You can meet several of our current scientists by watching the short new video on this page.  They will give you a sense of why we are so passionate about what we do.