THANK YOU so much Cox family, Kristy, Janna, Scott, Linda, Andrew, Suzy and Maren, for your generosity.

I have worked as a research scientist in cancer laboratories since 1987. I devote time every day at work to finding therapies for cancer but I plan to do something more personal: be a “shavee.” By making a small sacrifice (hair!) I hope to empathize with those ~300,000 families all over the world who must face the pain of a child’s cancer diagnosis. Won’t you please make a small monetary sacrifice to bring about better therapies and care for childhood cancers?

 Our understanding of the causes of  dis-regulated cell growth leading to tumors and cancer has increased dramatically since I finished graduate school and treatments continue to improve. Yet the therapies can be harrowing and have numerous side effects.

Often, these treatments are not specific for young human bodies; sometimes  just reduced doses of the drugs used for adult cancers. The toxicity of some treatments can cause cell damage that evolves into new cancers later in life.  There has not been enough funding devoted to determine what is unique about treating cancer growth in children. Pediatric cancers accounted for less than 0.5% of all new cancer cases in the U.S. in 2017, so this research is grossly underfunded in the private sector.   And only 4% of the National Cancer Institute's budget ( federal funding) was distributed specifically for childhood cancers.

Helpful reading:

Zoe Read. “Our Disproportionate Focus on Adult Over Pediatric Cancer Research.” The Atlantic Jan. 2, 2013.

icareicure.org