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Posts Tagged ‘Canary Center at Stanford’
Project Baseline aims to map human health
February 3, 2019
What if we could view changes in the body earlier than early to warn of possible disease? That is the aim of Project Baseline, to map human health. The New York Times published “Project Baseline Aims to Ward Off Illness Before We Get Sick” by Anahad O’Connor (Oct 2018). The study is recruiting 10,000 adults. And each will be examined and followed for at least four years. So the goal is to discover the earliest warning signs of cancer, heart disease and other killers. Participants, the first of whom was enrolled in 2017, are called Baseline Explorers.
Project Baseline is the result of conversations in 2013, led by Google X’s Andrew Conrad. He consulted with Dr. Sam Gambhir, MD, chair of Radiology at Stanford University and director of the Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection. And also with Robert M. Califf, MD, professor of Cardiology in the School of Medicine, Duke University.
Conrad (now CEO of Verily, a spin out of Google X) was interested in exploring with these two notable healthcare thought leaders, one in cancer and the other in cardiology, about how to create what has become a landmark study. Both had deep experience in working with large patient cohorts and focus on early detection of disease. The project has formed teams across the country.
Seeking to create a baseline of health
Traditional trials focus on those who have a disease. So Project Baseline, as the name implies, mainly enrolls healthy individuals gathering enormous amounts of information. Baseline equips enrollees with wearable technology from Verily that tracks sleep patterns, heart rhythms and physical activity. The team is developing tools and technologies to collect, organize, analyze and curate the data.
And investigators are determining the best ways to share data with participants that is helpful to them. They are looking at how they can engage with their medical professionals.
Canary Foundation and the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection
Dr. Gambhir has served as Canary Foundation’s scientific director for more than a decade. He led the development of the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection. The Canary Center is a partnership forged in 2008 between Stanford University and Canary Foundation under the leadership of Don Listwin, based on the foundation’s mission. And interesting to know, Canary Center is the first program Stanford has focused entirely on cancer early detection.
Early Cancer Detection Riders: Vanderkitten Training Ride
August 6, 2013
On August 3rd, Pro Cyclists from Vanderkitten Racing led a training ride for Canary Challenge riders. It was great to be able to spend a sunny Saturday morning riding with members of the strongest (in numbers) Canary Challenge team in Portola Valley, in preparation for the upcoming Canary Challenge on September 28.
Vanderkitten riders Ruth Winder, Liza Rachetto and Jessica Cutler had a great time getting to know everyone and each rider’s strengths on the bike. Liza is a two-time Giro D Italia finisher and three time Hawaii Ironman Finisher, and Jessica Cutler is the Washington State Time Trial Champion. Click here for the full photo gallery.
If you want to get in on the training action, join more Vanderkitten cyclists from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on August 17 and September 7. Beginner to Intermediate cyclists are welcome. Please RSVP so we can know how many riders can expect.
Cancer Early Detection: The Annual Canary Foundation Early Detection Symposium
July 29, 2013
Canary Foundation is excited to announce the details of our upcoming Annual Early Detection Symposium, to be held on October 15th, at Stanford University.
The main focus of the meeting is to bring Canary research teams together to cultivate a collaborative network of cancer early detection researchers as well as hearing from some top-notch scientists. Every year, leading-edge projects arise among scientists who meet at the Symposium.
At Canary Foundation, one of the core values that drives our organization is collaboration. We believe that our collective impact is greater than our individual contributions; as a result, we are committed to bringing together the best and brightest minds in science to pioneer discovery and accelerate progress.
In that spirit, each year Canary Foundation invites hundreds of scientists from all over the world to hear from innovative and inspiring researchers in the field of cancer early detection research. The goal of the Canary Foundation Early Detection Symposium is to convene researchers so they can share their successes and challenges, working together to spur progress and development.
We expect about 200 researchers, clinicians and industry representatives as well as staff from other cancer research foundations. The Canary disease teams, including Ovarian, Pancreas, Prostate, Lung and Breast, will present updates on their research.
We’ve recently published the Symposium Agenda, which highlights the quality and caliber of the researchers presenting, as well as the breadth and depth of the topics to be discussed. To register, please visit the Symposium Website. Canary Foundation supporters and donors are encouraged to attend.
Cancer Early Detection: A New Era of Research at Canary Center
July 17, 2013
Canary Foundation has moved to Stanford’s new Technology and Innovation Park (TnI Park) on Porter Drive in Palo Alto. The labs at Canary Center at Stanford are scheduled to move to the same location during late summer. These new facilities will continue to help push Canary research forward. With the move to Stanford’s Technology and Innovation Park, the labs will double in size. There will also be more equipment, including a new mass spectrometer to provide a molecular analysis of protein tissues and biological fluids from cancer tumors, helping to facilitate the detection of disease states.
Stanford University has continued to provide support to the Canary Center at Stanford by including the Canary Center in its new Technology and Innovation Park. All the labs of the Canary Center will be united under one roof, allowing for more collaboration. It’s a more modern, architecturally speaking, then the previous home, in a tree-filled setting. Location wise, our neighbors are tech and biotech companies, both large and small.
This move is extremely significant for the Canary Foundation, marking an important moment in our history. Expansion is always a milestone because it indicates growth and opportunity. In the case of the new Canary Center, there’s an opportunity to push further collaborations between researchers, accelerating scientific progress.
Job Openings in Cancer Early Detection Research
April 18, 2013
We are pleased to announce that the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection is recruiting two new faculty members at the Assistant, Associate or Full Professor level.
The Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection is dedicated to fostering research leading to the development of in vitro and in vivo strategies for the low-cost, early detection, and diagnosis of solid tumors (particularly cancers of the ovary, prostate, colon, lung, pancreas, breast and brain). Candidates should have significant and demonstrated interest in early cancer detection research. Stanford University and the Department of Radiology have made substantial commitments towards the expansion of early cancer diagnostics research including the opening of a new building with significant space available to Canary Center members.
Additionally, the Canary Center at Stanford is hiring for the following positions:
Postdoctoral or Research Scientist Position with Experience in Protein Engineering
Postdoctoral Position with Experience in Protein Chemistry / Cancer Cell Biology
Postdoctoral Position with Experience in Computational Systems Biology
Click here to learn more about the open positions and requirements for candidates.
Ovarian Cancer Early Detection: Screening at Stanford School of Medicine
February 7, 2013
On behalf of the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection and the Stanford Cancer Institute, the Canary Foundation is supporting the search for candidates to participate in the Novel Markers Trial Ovarian Cancer Screening Test. This is an important new research study looking at markers in the blood that may be used as an early detection test for ovarian cancer. If you fit the criteria, please consider joining the effort to reach the vision of living in a world of simple tests that identify and isolate cancer at its earliest, most curable stage.
Candidates are needed who fit the following criteria:
- Healthy women
- Ages 45-80
- Have at least one ovary
If you are willing to donate one tube of blood and fill out a questionnaire once a year for two years, we’re looking for you! If you have three of the following risk factors you may qualify:
- Of Ashkenazi Jewish descent
- Never given birth to a child (this counts as two risk factors)
- Never had a tubal ligation
- Used hormonal contraception (birth control pills) for less than a year in your life
If you are interested in learning more, please contact the research study office at novelmarkers@stanford.edu or call (650) 724-3308. For general information about participant rights, contact 1-866-680-2906.
In Memory: Lawrence Viariseo, Canary Challenge Rider and Cancer Early Detection Advocate
January 29, 2013
Lawrence Viariseo survived a fall off of a tall cliff, and fought a brave battle with cancer before his passing in late January. He raised funds for the Canary Challenge in 2012. His service is being held February 9, 2013 in Palo Alto, California.
Mr. Viariseo asked for friends or family members to donate to the Canary Challenge in lieu of flowers.
His niece Megan Cox describes him this way, “As you may remember, my uncle was a paraplegic who had beat stage 4 bladder cancer once before. The doctors at Stanford he felt had saved his life. It meant the world to him to be entering into the challenge in 2012 to give back to those doctors.”
CLICK HERE to make a donation to honor his memory. Please write a personal note if you would like.
Here is a lovely article that ran last year regarding his story, and his commitment to the Canary Challenge.
Cancer Early Detection in 2013: Canary Foundation Leads the Way
January 9, 2013
Everyone here at Canary Foundation is looking forward to an exceptional year filled with challenges and scientific milestones for our program teams working on early cancer detection research in ovarian, breast, lung, pancreatic and prostate cancer.
We’re starting the year with a bang! We’ll host our first event of the year on February 8: our annual Ladies’ Luncheon featuring Jesse Draper (most famously known as the host of The Valley Girl Show), who will interview Canary Foundation Founder Don Listwin and Director of CCS and Chair of Radiology Dr. Sam Gambhir on the latest news in early cancer detection. It’s not too late to register!
This February is also the one-year anniversary of our Breast Cancer Early Detection Program. Canary Foundation scientists are collaborating with the Cancer Prevention Institute of California to study pre-diagnostic breast cancer samples for potential breast cancer biomarkers.
Another upcoming milestone is related to our ongoing research on microbubble imaging technology. We hope (and expect) to begin testing of microbubbles on patients at Stanford in 2013. Keep your eye out for news of impeding FDA approval of microbubble technology – we’ll be sure to share it with you when the news finally breaks!
You might have read that the Canary Center at Stanford will be moving to a new campus this year. The move to the Porter Street Campus is scheduled for late summer or early fall, to a facility about twice the size of our present building. The Canary Foundation offices will move also, due to Stanford University needing the current location for new uses. We’re all very excited about settling in to our new digs.
If you’ve ever been to a Canary Challenge ride, you’ll know what all the fuss is about! On September 28, 2013, we plan to host over 1,000 cyclists and raise $1 million or more for the Stanford Cancer Institute. The ride will start off from VMware in Palo Alto as it did in 2012. Teams of four or more are encouraged to sign up to participate, and we have a brand new 5K Ride/Walk to accompany the 50K, 75K, 100K and 100-mile rides this year. We encourage you to start building your teams now!
The annual Canary Early Detection Symposium will be hosted this year on October 15, 2013. This event brings together scientists, researchers and high tech industry to solve problems and collaborate in the field of early cancer detection in all of the Canary program areas.
It’s going to be a great year, and we invite you to book your calendars and join us as we raise money, celebrate successes, and forge our way ahead through new horizons in cancer early detection research!
Early Cancer Detection Success Reaps Spirit Awards from Stanford Cancer Institute
December 12, 2012
Canary Founder Don Listwin Honored for Leadership in Early Detection of Cancer Research
Early detection of cancer research represents the heart and soul of our work. Last week, Stanford Cancer Institute bestowed two 2012 Spirit of Hope Awards upon Canary Foundation and on our founder, Don Listwin. We are so honored to be the recipient of this prestigious award, and are grateful for the opportunity to be publicly recognized for the work we do in the field of early detection.
“The commitment to identifying easy and affordable biomarkers to detect cancer when it is small is the driving force behind the work of Canary Foundation,” said Don. “Canary Foundation is honored to be recognized for this work. Within 10 years, we expect and hope to have the tools, technology, tests and the market to allow you to find cancer early where it is most curable.”
Our work is focused on funding scientific discovery into affordable early detection systems such as blood tests and ultrasound imaging in the fields of ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, breast and lung cancer.
“The major way we’re going to make an impact on cancer is early detection and we are thrilled to partner with Canary in this incredible enterprise,” said Stanford Cancer Institute Director Dr. Beverly Mitchell, MD, as she presented the two awards. More »
Early Cancer Detection Success Leads to Canary Featured as Charity of The Week
December 5, 2012
Early cancer detection results of Canary Foundation led to the honor of being named Charity of the Week by The Week magazine. Canary Foundation early cancer detection research focuses on lung, prostate, pancreatic, breast and ovarian early detection methodologies. The Week magazine is a domestic and international magazine discussing the latest developments in business, health, science, technology, the arts, culture, consumer products and travel.
“Canary Foundation is the world’s first nonprofit dedicated entirely to the development of testes for early cancer detection. Founded in 2004 by Don Listwin, a successful technology executive who lost his mother to misdiagnosed ovarian cancer, Canary Foundation funds collaborative research by teams of cancer experts, with the aim of one day being able to identify early-stage cancer through a simple blood test.
The vast majority of cancer research funding goes to treatments of the disease in later stages; less than 15 percent currently goes to early-detection efforts, when cancer is at its most treatable. Canary Foundation is currently funding early-stage tests for lung, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, and breast cancers.”
Thank you so much to The Week Magazine for featuring Canary Foundation as a charity to watch!
