On July 1 Dr. Animesh Barua at SAA beneficiary Chicago Rush was notified that he has been awarded $1.7M in RO1 funding (the highest level) from the National Institute of Health. Swim Across America funding from the 2013 SAA Chicago swim enabled Dr. Barua to refine and bolster his study, which is the basis to developing a non-invasive early detection test for ovarian cancer. Currently, there are no early detection tests available for ovarian cancer – a very aggressive and hard-to-treat disease. If successful, Dr. Barua’s test could help the nearly 25,000 women in the United States who are diagnosed each year. Early detection is key. Roughly 14,000 women die annually of ovarian cancer. An effective, accurate test could drastically reduce that number. Critical seed money from Swim Across America was instrumental in allowing Dr. Barua to conduct his study which lead to the new funding from NIH.

(L to R: Dr. Animesh Barua; Dr. Robert DeCresce, Acting Chicago Rush Cancer Center Director; Faye Jacobs; Dr. Josh Jacobs, Associate Provost for Research Chicago Rush)