Category: News

Research from SAA-Baltimore beneficiary Johns Hopkins recognized

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Labs, News, UncategorizedLeave a comment

When Johns Hopkins scientists Bert Vogelstein, Ken Kinzler, Luis Diaz and their colleagues linked certain cancers to mutations in genes that repair DNA, they may not have imagined that their findings would spark an idea that has become a crystal ball for predicting whether immunotherapy is more likely to work in a person with cancer. The $3 million in grant funding over the last decade from Swim Across America – Baltimore has played a major role in funding their idea of “mismatch repair” so more families can have hope.

Now, their work is being featured in the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Clinical Advances 2017 and you can read more about the accomplishments here and watch the patient perspective below.

Supporting Promising Trials in Seattle

Posted on Posted in Fundraising, Labs, NewsTagged , Leave a comment

The following was shared by Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

scca
SAA – Seattle Volunteers and Participants visit the Swim Across America-Cellular Therapy Lab at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

In the past few years, immunotherapy has produced unprecedented breakthroughs in cancer research. SCCA’s Swim Across America Cell Therapy Laboratory (SAA-CTL) is at the leading edge of this work and SAA-Seattle funding has been critical in supporting the clinical trials that bring this research to patients. SAA-Seattle grants allow us to train technologists in the theory and practice of complex cell processing methods and helps provide sophisticated instrumentation required for these methods. An example of our SAA-Seattle funded research is the Chimeric Antigen T Cell Receptor (CAR T) immunotherapy, which involves selecting and genetically modifying certain lymphocytes to be able to recognize and kill tumor cells. In 2014, SAA-Seattle grants enabled us to initiate the first CAR T clinical trial at SCCA. This trial has produced remarkable results: the complete remission (CR) rate in refractory (unresponsive to other therapies) B Cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia was 94% and the CR rate in refractory Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was 64%. This profound success allowed additional patients to be treated, including 35 new patients in 2016. Three more trials using similar technology are beginning in 2017.

SAA-Seattle has played a vital role in supporting groundbreaking research at SCCA. Thanks to SAA-Seattle funding, we have become a center of excellence for selecting particular cells that contribute to an “anti-cancer” effect while removing the other cells (naïve T lymphocytes) that can cause graft vs host disease. This concept has been a sort of holy grail for the treatment of hematological malignancies (certain types of leukemia) through transplantation and trials supported by SAA-Seattle funds have shown extraordinary results. These naïve T cell depletion and CAR T study results have been published in top tier journals.

We hope you’ll join us this September 9th at the 2017 SAA – Seattle open water swim to ‘Make Waves to Fight Cancer.’

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA ACHIEVES ACCREDITATION FROM BBB WISE GIVING ALLIANCE

Posted on Posted in Events, Fundraising, News, SAA on the Scene, SAA PrideLeave a comment

bbb-accredited-charityCharlotte, NC – November 10, 2016 – By meeting key standards of board oversight, finances, results reporting and fundraising appeals, Swim Across America achieved accreditation by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. This accreditation signifies that Swim Across America is deserving of donor trust as they are a well-run nonprofit organization.

“Our relationship with our donors is rooted in trust,” commented Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America. “We initiated the process with BBB Wise Giving Alliance and are pleased to share that we meet the standard of non-profit excellence. We are proud to earn the ability to display the BBB accreditation seal.”

The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (BBB WGA) is the nation’s only comprehensive charity evaluator, assisting donors in making sound giving decisions. Donors know they can trust a charity if it is accredited by the BBB WGA. Their broad standards go beyond what the law requires and dives deeper than other charity monitoring organizations. Each BBB WGA charity report process involves a rigorous review using 20 holistic BBB Charity Standards, interaction with charity officials about corrective actions needed to address deficiencies, and quality control measures to assure report accuracy. Thousands of charities have reports available to the public at Give.org.

“The public can be assured that every charity evaluation is completed with careful, objective analysis of charity information,” says Art Taylor, president and CEO of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, “By achieving accreditation, Swim Across America has earned public trust having demonstrated its commitment to sound governance, transparency and achieving its mission.”

Swim Across America’s report can be viewed on the BBB Wise Giving Alliance website.

Show Off Your SAA Pride on LinkedIn

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Corporate Partners, Fundraising, Labs, News, SAA Pride, UncategorizedLeave a comment

We appreciate your time, fundraising and participation as part of the Swim Across America family. As our organization grows, we will reach out from time to time to ask you to help us tell our story as a leader in cancer research funding.

If you have participated, volunteered or donated to Swim Across America, and you have a profile on LinkedIn, list Swim Across America under your volunteer activities. When you identify Swim Across America, our logo will come up next to your activity. We suggest you select the “health” option from the cause drop down. In the text box, identify what role you played and which swim(s). For example, if you participated, volunteered or donated to Tampa, identify as SAA – Tampa. You can list several swims if you have provided support over the years. LinkedIn is an ideal community for you to showcase causes that you support and we would be honored to have you recognize Swim Across America in your profile.

Step 1: Select “VIEW MORE”

main-qimg-7514b114d26c6df7a18a62f277d10509

Step 2: Select “VOLUNTEERING EXPERIENCE”

linkedin-volunteering-experience-catmedia

Step 3: Enter “Swim Across America, Inc” and fill in the details of your experience!

screen-shot-2016-09-26-at-10-38-36-am

$200,000 to Fund Research at Tampa Moffitt Leads to $3M in New Funding from NCI

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Fundraising, Labs, News, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Immunotherapy approaches are designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer and can result in responses lasting for years. One strategy to improve immune responses against tumors is to isolate immune cells from the tumor, grow the cells to very large numbers in the laboratory, then transfer them back to the patient as adoptive cell therapy (ACT). At the Tampa Moffitt Cancer Center, patients with metastatic melanoma have been treated with ACT in clinical trials. At the time of the initiation of these trials, the expected survival time for stage IV metastatic melanoma patients was 6-9 months. Currently, patients treated on the ACT trial are tumor-free at 46, 52, 54, 57, 59 and 66 months. Funding from Swim Across America has led to the development of additional clinical trials in patients with metastatic melanoma that combines ACT with other immunotherapy approaches that is expected to boost results even further. The crucial funding from Swim Across America has allowed for the development of improved ACT strategies resulting in additional awards to Drs. Amod Sarnaik and Shari Pilon-Thomas totaling greater than $3 million. These awards include a National Cancer Institute K23 training grant, an American Cancer Society Research Scholar grant, and a sponsored Research Agreement with Lion Biotechnologies.

Picture 1 L-R: Dr. Amod Sarnaik, Dr. Shari Pilon-Thomas
Picture 2 L-R: Dr. Shari Pilon-Thomas, Dr. Amod Sarnaik

SAA Family Tree (August)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Family Tree, News, UncategorizedLeave a comment

SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

FamilyTreeAug

  • Olympians Kristy Kowal and Heather Petri are mentioned in the same breath as Taylor Swift in this Boston Herald wrap-up.
  • SAA – Atlanta’s Event Director Megan Melgaard and Olympian Doug Gjertsen stopped by CBS46 to get everyone to Lake Lanier Islands on Sept. 17.
  • Brian Boyle writes #WhyISwim for the Huffington Post – look for Brian at SAA -Baltimore.
  • SAA – Atlanta’s Sheri Hart makes waves in Simply Buckhead magazine.
  • WGN came out to Ohio Street Beach to film SAA – Chicago.
  • Dr. Julie Granger of SAA – Atlanta fights cancer, fear to help other swimmers. (Atlanta INTown)
  • SAA – Seattle and its impact on cancer research in the community is profiled in 425 Magazine.
  • Mel Smith of SAA – Seattle isn’t planning on quitting swimming at 73.
  • FiOS1 covered SAA Greenwich – Stamford.

 

$50,000 Turns Into $1.7M

Posted on Posted in Fundraising, News, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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.

SAA Chicago-Animesh Barua-Robert DeCresce-Faye Jacobs-Josh Jacobs

(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)

 

SAA Family Tree (June)

Posted on Posted in Events, Family Tree, News, UncategorizedLeave a comment

SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

  • An incredible New York Times story on the Levy family featuring Wills Levy, a bone marrow transplant donor that helped save his brother Andrew’s life. Wills participated at the SAA – SMAC Out Cancer Pool Swim in May.
  • A great feature on the 10th anniversary of the Greenwich-Stamford swim featuring proud participants Craig Lawrence, Victoria Dinkel and the Bass family.
  • SAA beneficiary Memorial Sloan Kettering and its pediatrics department was the  focus of a popular ‘Humans of New York’ series that raised a lot of awareness and funds for MSK.
  • Emily Crabtree of SAA – Chicago and the swim were highlighted in the Rush University Medical Center annual report.
  • Greenwich-Stamford swimmer Julia Neri was featured locally for being named valedictorian among other notable achievements.
  • Swim Across America was the Event Spotlight feature in SwimSwam Magazine’s Olympics Preview Issue. Pick up a copy and see how great the 4-page spread turned out!13245263_10153490105146176_5270864362521739117_n

SAA on the Scene

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Fundraising, Labs, News, SAA on the Scene, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Members of the Swim Across America family are active in their communities. SAA on the Scene shares stories from the “dry side” of our events where the SAA mission to make waves to defeat cancer is honored and recognized. Feel free to send submissions for future posts here.

Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) Discovery Celebration
Harvard Club (New York) – April 14 

Greenwich-Stamford co-chairs Michele Graham and Lorrie Lorenz, and SAA Director of Events Craig Beardsley were in attendance to learn how dollars granted to ACGT are defeating cancer.

Swim Across America AYA Lounge One-Year Anniversary Celebration
Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa) – April 26

SAA – Tampa Event Director Rob Shapiro and committee members Alicia Reyes-Shapiro, Tony Scicchitano, Janice Scicchitano and Olivia Fridgen participated in the one-year anniversary of the Adolescent and Young Adult Lounge opening. We profiled AYA in our lab series profile.

13103256_10154145119397509_8520939913850164529_n

SAA – Long Island Sound Swim Kickoff Event
Larchmont Yacht Club – April 27

The 24th annual Long Island Sound Open Water Swim Kickoff event took place on April 27th. Beneficiary representatives from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Columbia University Medical Center and Cancer Support Team attended the event. Dr. Jedd Wolchok, MD PhD (of MSK) and Dr. Andrew Kung, MD PhD (of CUMC) spoke at the event sharing breakthroughs being made to defeat cancer in their labs.

2016 Larchmont Kickoff

Craig Beardsley (SAA Director of Events), Jean Fufidio, Dr. Jedd Wolchok, MD PhD, Dr. Sadna Budhu PhD, Tony Sibio (SAA – LIS chair and event director)

2016 Larchmont Kickoff3

Robyn Gartrell MD, Dr. Andrew Kung, MD PhD, Lucille Winton, Katie Shields, Dr. Jedd Wolchok, MD PhD, Dr. Sadna Budhu PhD, Dr. James Garvin MD PhD, Tony Sibio (SAA – Larchmont chair and event director)