UDance 2022 is HERE!
I hope everyone is enjoying Spring and had a nice time getting together with friends and family for Easter and Passover if you celebrate. It continues to be a busy time here at The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.
AACR
I joined 15,000 in-person attendees in New Orleans for the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) national conference in New Orleans. While I wish more of the conference focused on pediatric cancer, it was still a very worthwhile trip. Some great sessions and an opportunity to meet with some of our research partners in person. (Photo credit: Gwen Nichols - LLS)
Brave the Shave
The good folks of North Dakota are back at it with their massive head shaving fundraising efforts. Part of the money that they raise stays locally in ND for families of kids with cancer while the remaining amount is donated to The Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation to fund cutting-edge research. We are very proud to be their research arm.
Dr. Alex Bishop
Speaking of research, I thought you might like to see the value of your contributions to childhood cancer research. Dr. Alex Bishop (Univ of Texas - San Antonio) is one of our funded researchers.
“(Your grant) allowed us to open up a new area of work and get the key data that has lead to my student getting a DoD (Dept of Defense) fellowship and me getting both an R01 (NCI) and SU2C (Stand Up 2 Cancer) funds. More importantly, I believe we have cracked something really important for Ewing sarcoma biology and I am excited to see it all come together. I just wish we could have moved faster, but covid slowed us down. Nonetheless we are getting there. So thank you again, your funding made a huge difference for my research program and what I hope will be key findings.”
So, for those of you who wonder “can we really make a difference?” The answer is a resounding yes. The grants we fund often generate the “preliminary data” that the researcher needs to support their application for the larger DoD or NCI grant. Without us, that bigger effort never comes to fruition.
Podcasts
I have been very busy as a guest on a lot of podcasts lately. I appreciate the opportunity to spread the B+ message and expand our B+ Nation. Next week, I’m doing a podcast with a guy based out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
UDance
It is UDance Weekend! It’s finally here. The biggest of all B+ events will be held tomorrow (Sun 4/24) at The Bob Carpenter Center at the University of Delaware. There will be 5,000 students, 30+ B+ Heroes, elected officials, and a whole lot of fun. All because of a bunch of really hard-working, good-hearted UDance Exec Bd students. Cannot wait! Follow along on FB at @Udancedel
B+
Ali & Andrew’s Dad