Ways to support cancer research (money not required)

I won't get into the politics surrounding Susan Komen and all the Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns, as there is plenty to read and make your own decisions about. And there is no doubt that because breast cancer is one of the "sexy" cancers, it draws a lot of donation money, and therefore is relatively well-funded in terms of research.  While doing Scientific research for my own PhD, one of the areas our lab focused on was cancer research, and I saw first-hand how difficult it is to obtain government funding for this very important job.  The best thing that I think people who want to help "find a cure for cancer" can do is to make their voice heard by the government when funding decisions are made.  

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest source of funding for medical research in the world.  But since 2010, Federal funding of the NIH has decreased.  Adding in the impact of inflation, the NIH director Francis Collins says that, "The NIH once funded one in three research proposals. For the past 10 years, NIH has had enough to fund only one in six, although the quality of the research is as high as ever."  Please, please, contact your elected officials and let them know how important you think research funding is.  And if you don't know who your elected officials, are, click here for just one online source.  Input your zip code and it returns information and links to webpages and emails for all your representatives.

Unfortunately, government funding is not enough.  There are undoubtedly many noble cancer support groups that do things right--which I would define as putting money into actual research and not just awareness.  I will mention two here.

The first is a breast cancer-specific one that I joined years ago--the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.   If you join the Army of Women, you can fill out forms to be an actual research participant--whether you have/had breast cancer, or want to serve as a control (w/o breast cancer).  You can do this with no financial investment (although they also take donations).  And you can fill out as many surveys to qualify as you have time.  One of the neatest projects they are working on is the Health of Women Study.  Contrary to the name, they're looking for men (with and w/o breast cancer) as well as women.  This is near and dear to me because the description reads, "The majority of women who get breast cancer have none of the known clinical risk factors. This means we don’t know what causes breast cancer or how to prevent it. The HOW Study is a first-of-its-kind international online study for women and men with and without a history of breast cancer.  We will collect information about your health, your job, your diet, and your family history, among other topics that can help us get a better understanding of breast cancer and its potential causes.  Periodically, we will send you questionnaires about anything and everything. All you have to do is fill them out online. It’s that simple. This is a partnership and we need you for the long haul. The more questionnaires you fill out, the more information we will have that can help us have a better understanding of why women get breast cancer."

The other organization that I think does great things is the American Cancer Society.  In addition to funding cancer research, ACS supports patients and survivors in numerous ways.  I have seen firsthand many of the things that ACS does for survivors.  My first medical appointment following my diagnosis included a visit from an ACS Navigator who shared with me things that ACS provides, including rides to and from treatment if you don't have that support, the Look Good, Feel Better program, which I will be attending next month, and much evidence-based support and information.  Cara is doing the ACS's "Relay for Life" at Hamline University this year.  If you are considering donating to the ACS, please use this link to give directly to Cara's team.  You can even purchase a personalized luminaria in honor or in memory of a loved one who has had cancer.

I have benefitted greatly from research done before my diagnosis in 2014.  My hope is to continue to support research so that my children (and their peers) don't have to worry about cancer.