(Los Angeles – January 9, 2019) – Looking to the future, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) today announced the establishment of the Stand Up To Cancer Legacy Endowment CIRCLE, with the goal of raising $50 million by the end of 2019. The endowment will be used to support SU2C’s annual operating activities as it enters its second decade of raising money and awareness to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research and therapies that save lives now.
More than $10 million has been committed in the short time since the SU2C Legacy Endowment CIRCLE was created. Founding CIRCLE contributors include David Alden and Dina Al-Sabah, Washington, D.C.; Mark and Debbie Attanasio, Los Angeles; the Fisher Family, San Francisco; Arte and Carole Moreno, Angels Baseball Foundation, Phoenix; Jerry and Martyl Reinsdorf, Chicago; Peter and Sheel Seidler, San Diego; Bud and Sue Selig, Phoenix/Milwaukee; and Lewis and Jean Wolff, Los Angeles.
“We are grateful for the incredible support from the Founding CIRCLE contributors for this newly launched endowment fund, which will ensure that SU2C’s life-saving work continues for years to come,” said Sherry Lansing, SU2C co-founder and past chairperson of the board of directors of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, of which Stand Up To Cancer is a division. “These founding contributors not only understand the ubiquitous impact of cancer — striking one in three Americans in their lifetimes — but the extraordinary impact of Stand Up To Cancer’s research. Our successes to date include FDA approvals for five new treatments for breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers and difficult-to-treat leukemia in children and young adults in its first decade, with additional promising research already submitted for FDA review or nearing completion.”
“In true SU2C fashion, members of our Founding CIRCLE are working together to support critically important cancer research. The Legacy Endowment CIRCLE is a validation of our core principle that we are stronger when we stand together,” said SU2C Co-founder and CFA member Katie Couric. “This Endowment is providing a renewable resource to power future cancer research. While we have made tremendous progress, we are on the precipice of new breakthroughs that will help more patients and save more lives.
Marking 10 years of impact in 2018, SU2C’s mission is to raise funds to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. One hundred percent of donations received from the public support SU2C’s collaborative cancer research programs. To date, more than $603 million has been pledged in support of SU2C’s innovative research programs.
Since launching in 2008, SU2C has brought together more than 1,500 of the best and brightest research scientists from over 180 leading institutions in seven countries to work together on 87 Team Grants, including 24 of SU2C’s signature “Dream Teams.” SU2C has also funded 46 early-career, innovative scientists carrying out high-risk, potentially high-reward projects. The research is aimed at ending cancer’s reign as a leading cause of death worldwide. SU2C-funded researchers have planned, launched or completed more than 180 clinical trials involving over 12,000 patients.
About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry’s resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about cancer prevention as well as progress being made in the fight against the disease. As SU2C’s scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, conduct rigorous, competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and provide expert review of research progress.
Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, Ellen Ziffren, and Kathleen Lobb. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, has served as SU2C’s president since 2011.
For more information on Stand Up To Cancer, please visit StandUpToCancer.org.