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Dear Friends,

A little over a week ago I was part of something truly remarkable: the NFCR Global Summit and Award Ceremonies for Cancer Research & Entrepreneurship.

This is the 4th year that NFCR has hosted our Global Summit event, in partnership with the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund and the Asian Fund for Cancer Research and each year the event continues to impress – with 2024 being the best yet.

Not only was the latest progress in cancer research shared, but also how experts and leaders from research, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and investment sectors discuss, and think about what needs to be done and how to work together to move cancer care forward, with the focus on big-picture views and forward-thinking.  I was so moved by the insightful, proactive, and inspiring discussions of a constellation of shining stars under one roof.  

From the speakers and presenters, award recipients, to those attending, what I just experienced on October 18th is frankly… what gets me out of bed every morning, ready to fight for cancer patients. This event captures the spirit of progress through collaboration unlike any other event.

Real progress and change is happening in the fight against cancer.

Change isn’t easy. It is often not comfortable. It requires critical thinking, taking calculated risks, guts and determination. It also requires teamwork and resources.  Change means breaking status quo and working for possibilities that can become reality. NFCR and our research community is all about changing status quo for cancer patients. I am excited to see critically needed changes, innovative solutions, new hope, and real progress happening through discussions that are stemming at the NFCR Global Summit.

At the NFCR Global Summit, all parts of the ecosystem working to cure cancer came together to work in the true spirt of collaboration, to listen to one another, to address the unmet needs, to offer new solutions and new ideas to fight cancer from all angles – Researchers, cross-sector industry representatives, advocacy leaders, doctors, patient care specialists, government officials, budding (and seasoned) entrepreneurs, academics, patients, survivors, and caregivers. All parts of curing cancer united and worked as a community toward a common quest to cure cancer. There were no ego’s, just leaders with the means to change the course of cancer coming together – united – by a common cause: The collective efforts of everyone will achieve more than the efforts of individuals.

The NFCR Global Summit, in just 4 years, has become the global event where this “collective” gathers once a year to discuss and influence the next stage(s) of progress against cancer.

Not to add more meetings to everyone’s calendar but… if we are able to assemble the same group of leaders and influencers more than once a year and provide them the critically needed resources – imagine how much more quickly we could advance against cancer.

Here’s the Problem We Face

There is one primary problem that stands in our way of progress at the rate which I think is achievable. Financial resources – it’s something nobody really likes to talk about but we live in the real world where it takes real financial resources to make change happen. Can we get there – yes! But only with your help.

NFCR will continue to assemble and convene key leaders across the entire ecosystem working to cure cancer. With the help of our donors and sponsors, we will make the action plans and road map discussed at our events and turn them into an implementable movement to maintain our progress and momentum.

At the 2024 NFCR Global Summit, one of the key areas that stood out as something we must focus on now: early detection and cancer intervention. The message? Stop Cancer Before it Starts, and Catch Cancer Early Before It Kills. The cancer research and entrepreneurship community in attendance shared some very exciting new developments in the fight against cancer. Read the Full Event Recap >>>

The science is there to detect and intercept cancer when it starts. Now, dedicated funding and focus is needed to take this area of research into the mainstream so that humanity and science can work hand in hand to detect, treat, and stop cancer at its point of activation within a human body.

Traditional government funding for labs and science has decreased. This unfortunate funding situation underscores the need for NFCR now more than ever. We have a 51+ year history of funding research programs which would not normally be funded by large funding sources. Our research programs have (and will continue to) produce results for cancer patients. Without NFCR supporting labs and the research community, many of the most promising research discoveries risk stalling in the labs because funding is no longer available.

NFCR cannot let this happen. We can’t do it alone however. We need your help and support to fund the programs and labs which are showing progress toward a cure.

As I write this today, I am happy to report that change is happening right now in the fight against cancer. The right people and the right teams are coming together to find new ways to work together, to listen to each other, and to do their part in the quest for a cure.

A series of important discussions started at the 2024 NFCR Global Summit on October 18th in Washington, DC. These discussions are already evolving into action plans and new teams are being formed to tackle some of the biggest unmet needs that remain for cancer patients. Progress through collaboration is happening.

NFCR is at the forefront of those discussions. We need resources to help drive this change and we need your help to generate those resources.

We are at a critical moment in the fight against cancer and NFCR, along with the research community we support, is at the forefront of discoveries that will drive cures forward to create a world where cancer can be detected early, managed, and cured.

We need your help to get there. We need resources. We need to continue to fund our current research programs and to expand our programs in the years to come.

Between now and the end of the year, NFCR is conducting our year end fundraising drive. I ask of you to support our mission so that we can support our research community. With government funding of many labs decreasing, these labs need NFCR more than ever. More importantly, cancer patients need these labs more than ever.

Right now, we have an opportunity to help change the world. What I just experienced at the NFCR Global Summit gives me a new sense of hope and determination to get the job done for cancer patients. The power of collaboration will be the driving force to make cures possible. With your help, we will get there. We’re on a mission. A movement if you will. To change the world by finding a cure to cancer. I invite you to join us. Please, Give today.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sujuan Ba
President and CEO, NFCR