The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit source of cancer research funding in the United States, has recently announced the second of its two grant cycles for 2007. In the Great Lakes Division, six new term grants valued at over $2.3 million begin with the July 2007 cycle. This brings the grand total of Great Lakes Division research grants to over $29 million at eight research facilities in Indiana and Michigan. Those eight institutions include: Purdue University, Indiana University at Indianapolis, Indiana University at Bloomington, University of Notre Dame, University of Michigan, Wayne State University, Van Andel Research Institute, and Michigan State University. Nationally, the Society is funding 887 multi-year grants worth $446 million.

Since its inception, the ACS Research and Training Program has funded 40 Nobel Prize laureates and invested $3.1 billion in cancer research. The Society is committed to funding beginning investigators, a niche overlooked by many organizations. The work conducted by these trailblazing researchers has most likely had an impact on your life or someone close to you. Consider that women who receive mammograms or Pap tests, men who receive the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, children who have been cured of leukemia with the use of chemotherapy, and those who quit smoking or never started because cigarettes are linked to lung cancer, all are living better lives because of research funded by the American Cancer Society.

Grant applications are ranked on the basis of merit by one of several discipline-specific peer review committees. Each year, the committees meet to select the most promising proposals from researchers at top medical and scientific institutions across the nation. Unfortunately, the number of promising grant requests always exceeds the funds to support those projects. The Society has the resources to fund only about 60% of the grant requests it approves each year. As a result, a list is created of top-ranked cancer research projects that have been approved for funding but for which dollars are not available. This list is known as the Pay-If Research Application List, and these research projects will be funded only if the additional dollars can be raised. Currently, 89 “pay-if” research grants have passed the multi-disciplinary review process, but go beyond the Society’s current funding resources.

We invite you to join us in the fight to eliminate cancer by investing in research to detect cancer earlier, discover new and more effective treatments, and dramatically improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their loved ones. For more information on how to make a gift, please contact Lynn Borg, Major Gifts Officer, at (248) 483-4334.