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Posts Tagged ‘ovarian cancer early detection’
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: Canary Challenge Teams are on a Roll!
July 25, 2013
Over the last couple of months, things have been really heating up in the competition to recruit more members to join Canary Challenge teams. The contest was to become the first team to sign up six new members on a first come, first served basis. Two teams have stood out against the competition by amassing several new team members to ride side by side during the Canary Challenge on September 28.
KLA-Tencor, a $5K Sponsor of the Canary Challenge, rose to victory lead by team captain Rick Ankiel. They added 10 new team members, winning a GoPro camera and custom Canary Challenge “Cancer Sucks” socks. They beat out 64 other teams.
The Matthews Group at Morgan Stanley, also a $5K sponsor of the Canary Challenge, outpaced the rest of the pack lead by team captain Amy Oliver. They added seven new team members and also won a GoPro camera, custom Canary Challenge “Cancer Sucks” socks, along with custom Canary Challenge sunblock. They came in first against 69 other teams competing.
Your team could be next! It’s time to hustle and recruit as many team members as you can to raise as much funds as possible. If some of your colleagues are intimidated by a century ride, remind them that there are 50K and 75K routes, as well as a 5K walk/run/ride route. All proceeds go to early cancer detection research at the Canary Center and the Stanford Cancer Institute. Our vision is to live in a world where cancer is caught at the earliest, most treatable stage.
To learn more about the Team Challenge, visit the Team Challenge page on the Canary Challenge website.
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.
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.
Microbubble Imaging for Cancer Early Detection: Don Listwin Talks the Latest Technology
January 16, 2013
During our annual Ladies’ Luncheon “You’ve Got a Date with the Valley Girl” on February 8th, Jesse Draper, Don Listwin and Sam Gambhir will focus their conversation on microbubble imaging technology. Sound complicated? Watch this short video where Don explains microbubble technology and how it could radically change the way we detect cancer and stop it at the earliest possible stage. We hope you’ll be able to join us!
You’ve Got a Date with the Valley Girl: Let’s Talk Cancer Early Detection
January 15, 2013
Every year, Canary Foundation hosts a Ladies’ Luncheon, where we discuss our most cutting edge research on cancer early detection, and discuss its implementation. This year, our luncheon “You’ve Got a Date with the Valley Girl,” will be on February 8th, and will be hosted by Jesse Draper, creator and host of “The Valley Girl Show” where she interviews start up executives and innovators. She runs the technology blog Lalawag.com and is a regular featured writer for the Mashable, San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post and Glam.
Save the date and plan to sit in as Jesse interviews Sanjiv (Sam) Gambhir, MD, PhD, Chair of Radiology at Stanford University, Director of the Canary Center at Stanford and Don Listwin, Founder and Chairman of the Canary Foundation.
Check out the video below to see Don invite you to join us for this fabulous annual luncheon!
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 Detection Tool Mass Spectrometers Explained by Dr. Mark Stolowitz
October 25, 2012
Dr. Mark Stolowitz, Director of the Proteomics Core Facility, tells us about Mass Spectrometers and how they’re used for cancer early detection research.
Ride On! Celebrating the Canary Challenge for Cancer Research
October 10, 2012
On September 29, 500 riders convened at VMware in Palo Alto to set off on the Canary Challenge ride. All together, we raised $514,000 to benefit the Stanford Cancer Institute and the Canary Center at Stanford. This year’s numbers far surpassed last year’s ride of 344 riders and $300,000 raised. Take note: we have even bigger plans for next year!
Throughout the day, there were countless high points to celebrate. Here are just a few to highlight:
- Team spirit! This year, 32 teams rode together, many of who had trained together for months in advance. The feeling of camaraderie and support was palpable in the air
- Social media: Throughout the day, riders tweeted and interacted with our social media team as they rode, encouraging fellow riders, sharing their experiences, and spreading the word about the Canary Challenge
- Canary Chicks: Every year, the Canary Chicks make a splash! With their telltale boas and exuberant spirit, they put a smile on everyone’s face as they passed
- Creativity: One rider wore wings with each layer representing the number of donors he had- what a creative way to demonstrate the commitment and support of others
- Support: The high school student volunteers cheering on riders at the finish line. They made every rider feel like a champion. Kudos to all of our volunteers who supported riders with food, drink and cheering
- Accomplishment: Seeing the smiles of the first time 100-mile riders as they finished and arrived back at the Village. Their sense of accomplishment and pride was a true pleasure to witness
It was a great opportunity to have fun while making a real difference by fundraising for cancer early detection research. The funds raised directly affect the ability of the Stanford Cancer Institute to fund research and innovative clinical programs.
If you missed the event, check out professional photos from the ride, as well as images from the Canary social media community.
Save the date for Canary Challenge 2013, to be held on September 28. It’s never too early to start building your teams and start training!
