The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO achieved numerous milestones and accomplished significant goals in the past year, and looks forward to continued progress in creating a world free from the fear of cancer in 2013.

January

• The Mission Endowment—for the first time since its creation—provided support for Cancer.Net, two Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Awards, and Cancer Policy and Clinical Affairs, including Survivorship efforts.
• Twenty recipients of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium Merit Awards supported by CCF presented their abstracts at the Symposium in San Francisco.

February

• Twenty recipients of the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium Merit Awards supported by CCF presented their abstracts at the Symposium in San Francisco.
• Retained four-star Charity Navigator rating, which is calculated based on a charitable organization’s financial health, transparency, and accountability. Four stars, the highest rating, indicates that the Foundation exceeds industry standards and outperforms other similar organizations in these areas.

March

• Established the James B. Nachman Pediatric Oncology Fund, an endowed fund to support the James B. Nachman ASCO Junior Faculty Award in Pediatric Oncology. The award will be given each year to junior faculty who submit the highest-ranking abstract in pediatric oncology for the ASCO Annual Meeting.

May

• Added Eisai Inc. as a new Sustaining Donor to Mission Endowment.

June

• Recognized the Don Shula Foundation as a supporter for 20 consecutive years.
• Held the first invitation-only Celebration Dinner honoring CCF’s most generous supporters.
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, a new CCF donor, supported the Medical Student Rotation Awards.

July

• Awarded more than $6 million in research grants and awards to researchers at all career levels.
• Awarded the first Drug Development Research Professorship to Alex Adjei, MD, PhD. Through this five-year grant, Dr. Adjei will study the development of the toll-like receptor 5 agonist CBLB502 for cancer therapy, and mentor fellows and junior faculty members in drug development.

September

• Won the 2012 Non-Profit Standard of Excellence Award from the Web Marketing Association for conquercancerfoundation.org.
• Exceeded the Mission Endowment fundraising goal of $2 million. The Endowment was established in 2007 to support the missions of the Foundation and ASCO.
• Established an endowed Young Investigator Award (YIA) with support from The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in honor and memory of BCRF founder and breast cancer advocate Evelyn H. Lauder. The inaugural award will be presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting to a physician within the last two years of subspecialty training and planning an investigative career in clinical oncology focused on breast cancer.
• CCF received its first corporate support for CancerLinQ^TM, ASCO’s rapid learning system in cancer care: a generous $1 million, five-year gift from Helsinn that will support building the full system that encompasses all cancers. Additional support for CancerLinQ has come from generous donations from Dr. Raj Mantena, Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, and Genentech.
• Successfully held CCF’s first Challenge Month, which far exceeded the goal of raising $10,000 from individual online donations. With more than $35,000 given by individual donors, and generous matching gifts from the Foundation Board of Directors and Ariad Pharmaceuticals, over $50,000 was raised in a single month.
• Welcomed Elizabeth A. LaBorde as Chief Development Officer to oversee fundraising operations. Ms. LaBorde has more than 20 years of fundraising and development experience. Prior to joining CCF, she served as Vice President of Development for Make-A-Wish America, and Senior Vice President of Development and Chief Operating Officer of the Children’s Memorial Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the of Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
• Sixteen recipients of the Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Awards supported by CCF presented their abstracts at the Symposium in San Francisco. Of the 16 recipients, four are current and former CCF grant and award recipients.

October

• Fourteen recipients of the Markers in Cancer Merit Awards supported by CCF presented their abstracts at the Symposium in Florida.
• Added Recurring Donation capability to conquercancerfoundation.org.

November

• Twenty recipients of the Quality Care Symposium Merit Awards supported by CCF presented their abstracts at the Symposium in San Diego. These Merit Awards recognize promising oncology researchers for their research examining quality of care.

2012

• Raised, in total, more than $23 million to conquer cancer worldwide by funding breakthrough cancer research and sharing cutting-edge knowledge.
• Over the past year, the Board of Directors of CCF has been greatly diversified, welcoming five new members with backgrounds in philanthropy, law, and business, as well as medicine: Ira Elegant, Esq., a partner in Buchbinder & Elegant, P.A., who has represented several high-profile clients; Michael Gordon, JD, Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Investment Officer of Angelo, Gordon and Co., an investment advisory firm specializing in alternative investments; Thomas Roberts, Jr., MD, MSocSc, a Managing Member and Portfolio Manager at Farallon Capital Management, LLC; Ann Lurie, an internationally recognized philanthropist; and, Beth Karlan, MD, a leading gynecologic oncologist.