For more than six decades, Aid for Cancer Research has raised and distributed millions of dollars to support cancer research and clinical care initiatives in Massachusetts.
This all-volunteer team of 24 women raises the funds and awards 100 percent of the proceeds in grants and fellowships. They evaluate proposals in collaboration with an advisory board of leading clinicians and researchers from area hospitals and medical schools.
The group’s primary fund-raising event, now in its 62nd year, is an annual luncheon and fashion show that draws more than 1,000 supporters, many of whom attend year after year.
Its priorities include programs with immediate benefit to patients as well as investments in the development of more precise and less invasive modalities for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Its transformative grants include a $250,000 gift to equip the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center at the Mass General Cancer Center and a $125,000 gift to help establish the Translational Research Lab for the reading of genetic finger prints of cancer patients, a novel approach to customize treatment. Pictured are members of Aid for Cancer Research with Mass General’s Darrell Borger, Leif Ellisen, MD, and John Iafrate, MD.
