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Health & Fitness

June Mtg, Advocacy Day, challenges, Research, AACR, Lustgarten

There are 10! elements to this posting:

June Meeting in Sunnyvale rather than Campbell (June-Aug perhaps Sept also)

Advocacy Day and Purple Stride in Washington DC

Find out what's happening in Foster Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Three Week Challenge

Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer

Find out what's happening in Foster Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

National Call In Day

PanCan 2014 Research Grants

AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) links to presentations)

Challenge to do by 30 June

Lustgarten Foundation Distinguished Scholars

Cutting chances of Whipple surgery complications in half

 

Monthly Affiliate Meeting graciously hosted by Sports Basement in Sunnyvale

SB provides refreshments and a discount!

NOTE change of venue for May through August, perhaps September also, as the SB Campbell store is being remodeled (major expansion)

 

Meeting Details

Wednesday, June 18 - 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sports Basement,
Sunnyvale

1177 Kern Avenue,  (West side of Lawrence Expy, between Arques & Duane/Oakmead), Sunnyvale, CA 94085

RSVP to Rich Blish RBlish@PanCanVolunteer.org or Diane Borrison at dborrison@pancanvolunteer.org, and get more information on the Silicon Valley Affiliate webpage.

  Join the Silicon Valley Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network next Wednesday, June 18th  at 6:00 P. M. and find out how you can join the fight against pancreatic cancer. Be sure to Save the Date for PurpleStride Silicon Valley 8 November, 2014 for a 5K timed run and awareness walk through Discovery Meadow and many other, fun activities. 

  You will also be able to connect with the Silicon Valley Affiliate leadership team and learn how to raise even further awareness in our community. There will be refreshments!

 

P.S. - Not able to make the meeting? You can still join the fight against pancreatic cancer by joining us for PurpleStride Silicon Valley on Saturday, November 8. Visitwww.purplestride.org/siliconvalley for more information!

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a nationwide network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer. Learn more at www.pancan.org.

 

 

Here is an interesting email I got from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  We can ALL respond to this call for Action.

Help get Congress to Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer! View in a web browser.

 Week 1 Challenge / June 2, 2014 
Dear Richard,
A report was recently published that predicted that pancreatic cancer is going to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death by 2020. We can change that prediction if we all work together, but we need to enlist Congress in the fight. Congress controls the federal purse strings for pancreatic cancer research funding, and they are currently considering policies that put this critical funding in jeopardy. YOUR members of Congress can make a difference, but they need to hear from YOU that they should.
Between now and Advocacy Day 2014, we need your help to get Congress to Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer — our new rallying cry on Capitol Hill this June. 
Please help us raise the volume and get Congress's attention by participating in this year’s Three-Week Challenge. Your two challenges for this week are below. Each will take less than 5 minutes of your time. 

Action 1: Complete an action alert. Your email will automatically be sent to all three of your members of Congress. 

 

Action 2: Recruit new advocates to the fight by forwarding them our new advocacy sign-up form.

Once you complete the action alert, you will automatically be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to the ShopPurplestore. And if you get at least three (3) new advocates to submit the advocacy sign-up form by June 17, you will win a “Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer” T-shirt!* 
Please do not delay — complete these actions today! And look for our Week 2 Challenge email next Monday. With your help, Congress will Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer! 
Sincerely, 
Megan Gordon Don
Megan Gordon Don
Vice President, Government Affairs & Advocacy
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Stomp. ShareTweet. #KEEPSTOMPING 
P.S. View our ad from the campaign we are currently running in Washington, D.C., to urge lawmakers to Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer! 
*For you to be eligible for this prize, new advocates must enter your name in the “Referred by” field on the web sign-up form, and they cannot already be registered advocates in our system. Prizes are not redeemable for cash or exchangeable for any other prize. Shipping is free. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery. All prizes are subject to availability.

 

 

 

Share and tweet to Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer! View in a web browser.

 Week 2 Challenge / June 9, 2014 
Dear Richard,
Last week, we flooded Capitol Hill with emails telling Congress to Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer! If you didn’t complete Week 1 of the Three-Week Challenge, you can still participate by sending an email to your members of Congress. 
With Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day just one week away, it’s time to get louder and go social! This week’s challenge is to reach your members of Congress on their social media pages. 

Action 1: Post a message on the Facebook and Twitter pages of your members of Congress, and take other actions on social media. 

 

Action 2: Recruit new advocates to the fight by forwarding them our new advocacy sign-up form.


Remember, if you get at least three (3) new advocates to submit the advocacy sign-up form by June 17, you will win a “Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer” T-shirt!* 
Please do not delay — complete these actions today! And look for our Week 3 Challenge email next Tuesday — the National Call-In! With your help, Congress will Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer! 
Sincerely, 
Megan Gordon Don
Megan Gordon Don
Vice President, Government Affairs & Advocacy
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Stomp. ShareTweet. #KEEP STOMPING 
P.S. View our ad from the campaign we are currently running in Washington, D.C., to urge lawmakers to Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer! 
*For you to be eligible for this prize, new advocates must enter your name in the “Referred by” field on the web sign-up form, and they cannot already be registered advocates in our system. Prizes are not redeemable for cash or exchangeable for any other prize. Shipping is free. Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery. All prizes are subject to availability. 

 

 

National Call in Day

 the volume on Capitol Hill! View in a web browser.

Our guest columnist this month is Kara Friedrich, Denver Affiliate Coordinator and true believer in Advocacy Day and the National Call-In. 
Read Kara's message.
Learn more about pancreatic cancer and its treatment — and gain hope — by attending a local educational event in person or watching a webinar online anytime.

Explore your options.
shop PURPLE
Father's Day is 
June 15!
Shop now
learn about
PLANNED GIVING
Create your legacy with a gift.

 NATIONAL CALL-IN
STOMP ON PANCREATIC CANCER!
On June 17, support our advocates on Capitol Hill and tell Congress: Stomp on Pancreatic Cancer and step up cancer research funding! Learn more.

 

 

“old news” but still worthy of posting : PanCan 2014 grants (awarded in concert with AACR)

http://www.pancan.org/research-grants-program/grants-awarded/by-year/2014-pancreatic-cancer-action-network-research-grants/

 

 

AACR Conference in San Diego in May 2014… links to the presentations:

http://webcast.aacr.org/

However, a couple words of warning.  First of all, don’t try to create a new user account as you are not likely an AACR member.  However, if you click on “Audio + Slides” at the right edge opposite the talk of interest to you, you can freely see the slides and hear the commentary (each is 30 min).  Secondly, I found the material quite challenging.  I sampled two talks so far (New targets on the KRAS pathway, Frank McCormick, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comp. Cancer Ctr., San Francisco, CA, United States  and  Diet and cancer: Status report in 2014, Walter C. Willett, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States).  The KRAS talk quickly got too technical for me but the author did say that a new website RAScentral.org is under construction.

Previous Special Conferences

 

 

Here is an email to which we can all respond:

Dear Richard,

PurpleStride Silicon Valley 2014 is November 8th.   But the time to make strides is NOW. The need is urgent.

We need YOUR help before June 30th in order to close the fiscal year-end revenue gap that we are currently facing, which is necessary to continue to grow our research efforts as well as the critical programs that we provide to the pancreatic cancer community.

As a champion for PurpleStride Silicon Valley you can help us reach our goal and ensure that we continue to take forward steps in the fight against pancreatic cancer.

Before June 30th, you can:

  Visit www.purplestride.org/siliconvalley to register for this year’s event.

  Share your goal with everyone you know on social media and email

  Make a donation to your own team or profile page

  Customize your team or profile page with a picture and a story about why you stride to kick-start your fundraising

As we approach the end of another fiscal year and reflect on the tremendous foundation that we have put in place over the past 15 years, we must continue to keep a keen eye on our Vision of Progress goal of doubling survival for pancreatic cancer by 2020.  Not only must we continue to accelerate progress, but we must push forward with a sense of urgency like never before.

Pancreatic cancer is predicted to move from the 4th leading cause of cancer death in this country to the 2nd leading cause by the year 2020 unless we step in and stop the momentum.  (Read more about the projections in our recent study here.)

Please feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email should you have any questions or concerns about registering your team.  I am here to support you in all of your fundraising efforts.

With gratitude,

Jeni Ayers

Corporate and Community Relations Manager

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

1500 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 200

Manhattan Beach, CA  90266

 

 

I am quite impressed with Lustgarten Foundation (http://www.lustgarten.org/), whose sole purpose is to fund research on pancreatic cancer.  It’s noteworthy that on at least one occasion the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and Lustgarten Foundation put on a joint event, in Boston sometime in 2013.

The Lustgarten Foundation announces first scientists chosen as "Distinguished Scholars" (I find it interesting that Lustgarten is very East Coast-centric, both financial/management support and whom they choose to support for research)

 

Distinguished Scholars Program

We are pleased to announce the first scientists chosen to receive funding as part of our new “Distinguished Scholars” program. The program recognizes individuals who have made outstanding achievements in research to focus their efforts on finding a cure for Pancreatic Cancer. Each scientist will receive $5 million in funding over the next five years. 
We are honored to recognize the first Lustgarten Foundation Distinguished Scholars:
Ronald M. Evans, Ph.D., The Salk Institute
Douglas Fearon, Ph.D., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Weill Cornell Medical College
Bert Vogelstein, M.D., Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Learn more about the Distinguished Scholars program and the grantees.
The grantees were selected by the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board due to their historical accomplishments of breakthrough research. The Lustgarten Foundation has already committed a total of $27 million toward important pancreatic cancer research studies so far this year and more than $90 million since its inception. Together, we will improve survival rates for people with pancreatic cancer and eradicate this deadly disease.
Sincerely,

Kerri Kaplan
Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer
The Lustgarten Foundation

 

 

Dr Steve Jackson found this, indirectly from New England Journal of Medicine (TOP tier journal):

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/PancreaticDiseases/45918?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2014-05-22&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=WC&eun=g480107d0r&userid=480107&email=hojacks@gmail.com&mu_id=5576535

A new drug cut in half the risk of one of the major complications of pancreatic resection, researchers said.

In a single-center randomized trial, fewer than one patient in 10 treated with pasireotide (Signifor) had a grade 3 or higher postoperative pancreatic fistula, leak, or abscess, according to Peter Allen, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues.

In contrast, more than one patient in five given a saline placebo had such a complication, Allen and colleagues reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

 

NOT to dilute PanCan’s efforts but to supplement them …

There are two different Support Groups at Stanford relevant to pancreatic cancer.  One is specifically for pancreatic cancer on the 2nd Wednesday each month (Camille.Wheatley@gmail.com) while the other is for Gastroenterology Caregivers on the 1st  Wednesday each month (RKenemuth@stanfordmed.org).  Both meet on 875 Blake Wilbur in room CC2105 of the Cancer Center at 6PM.

 

Archived PanCan webinars are available at

http://www.pancan.org/section-facing-pancreatic-cancer/learn-about-pan-cancer/educational-events/

 

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