16/05/2023
May 20th will be the 15th birthday I experience since being thrust into the world of childhood cancer. Since my birthday on May 20th 2008, at the very least 38,325 children in the US have died as a result of childhood cancer, many more suffering horrible side effects and secondary malignancies. Since May 20th 2008, at the very least 229,950 children in the US have been diagnosed with cancer. When I calculated these numbers and saw them in black and white, they appalled me.
Some days it feels like a lifetime spent trying to change the outcomes for children with cancer and their families. Hundred upon thousands of hours have been spent working with others in the community, communicating with researchers, clinicians, families, etc., in order to identify projects that will have an impact. Focussing on the fight against childhood cancer day in and day out is both exhilarating, through supporting promising science or helping families, or it can be demoralizing being acutely aware that the this tragic cycle continues without interruption. It is this cycle that I choose to focus upon, and upon which PREP4Gold was founded. The cycle continues unabated and the needle isn't moving forward in an appreciable manner. PREP4Gold focusses on primary prevention as well as prevention of the effects of toxic therapies in use for children with cancer. We fill a niche, we look for opportunities to move the needle forward immediately, places where funding has traditionally been difficult to achieve. We don't simply throw darts against the wall.
For this reason, I am asking for your support in the next 4 days before my birthday so that on this 15th birthday since being dragged into this fight, I can look back and see that I've helped move the needle forward in the fight against childhood cancer. Please consider making a donation today through Facebook to PREP4Gold in support of our funding for Elias Sayour, MD, PhD's work to initiate a truly amazing vaccine clinical trial for children with high grade gliomas. (Here's a little more information about Elias' work).
https://pnoc.us/industry-leaders/elias-sayour-md-phd/
Thank you all so very much.
Elias Sayour, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics and Principal Investigator of the RNA-Engineering Lab at the University of Florida. He functions as the newly appointed Director of the Pediatric Cancer Immunotherapy Initiative (PCI2) of the UF Health Cancer Center and V...
