KU students are gettin’ dirty for a good cause

“From our experience in the lung cancer domain, we already knew what a fine institution The KU Cancer Center is,” said Beth Ida Stern, executive director of LUNGevity. “We’re excited to be working with KU, especially since they are pursuing designation as a center for the National Cancer Institute.”

KU will submit its application to the National Cancer Institute in 2011. NCI-designated centers serve as the major platform for moving basic discoveries in cancer from the laboratory to the patient, and they serve as the primary source of new discoveries in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

The gift for The KU Cancer Center will support pilot lung cancer research projects led by KU researchers Sitta Sittampalam and George Vielhauer.

“This funding will help us advance crucial research in lung cancer,” said Roy Jensen, director of The KU Cancer Center. “We are very grateful for this partnership with LUNGevity Foundation.”

LUNGevity Foundation, named fastest growing charity in the US in 2009 by Charity Navigator, was formed by seven lung cancer patients in 2001 to raise funds research into the detection, treatment, and cure of lung cancer. The foundation will host its second Kansas City walk/run on Nov. 6. For more information, visit www.lungevity.org.