Courage! We need all we can get in 2020.

On Saturday, October 24, I'm participating in the 15th annual Miles for Moffitt race to earn needed funds for cancer research...and I need your help!   Miles for Moffitt is a community-wide movement of inspiration, courage, and hope that allows our community to come together to raise critical funds for cancer research at Moffitt Cancer Center. In 2020 this will be a virtual experience!

Moffit's world-class care and treatment are driven by their leading edge research. As a Moffitt supporter, you will play a pivotal role in propelling the kind of change that is felt not just locally and nationally, but on a global scale.

Moffitt is a leader in immuno-oncology, specifically CAR T therapy. Moffitt treated the first clinical trial patient and the first commercial patient in the U.S. for Yescarta(R) and leads efforts to expand use of the FDA approved therapy.

Moffitt is at the forefront of translational breakthroughs in cancer care, co-leading the pivotal national clinical trial for Yescarta(R) a CAR T therapy. Moffitt is also leading a national, Phase 11 trial for breast cancer immunotherapy.

Moffitt was the first cancer center with an Integrated Mathematical Oncology Department. Clinical trials using math models are creating drug dosing schemes that allow the cancer to remain in the body, rather than bombarding it, as long as it doesn't spread.

Moffitt is developing digital tools and technologies that utilize computer science to improve the efficiency and quality of their cancer care. One of the ongoing research projects includes a neuro-radiology imaging study that will utilize Artificial Intelligence to read brain scans and identify a tumor's location and volume in minutes. There ae several other clinical projects in AI already underway.

Covid 19 never thwarted the heroics that go on every day at Moffitt. Superlative safety measures assured those of us with face to face clinic appointments and surgeries, that we would be protected to the very highest level of care we all come to expect and take great comfort in at Moffitt Cancer Center. Same day Covid tests, developed and read at and by Moffitt, meant patients and the vast medical, research and support staff at Moffitt all were protected. Thorough patient and staff entry screening, social distancing and a strict mask wearing policy resulted in a stellar safety record within this 2020 # 11th ranked cancer hospital in the USA, (US News and World Report). Not only did the quality cancer care and world impacting research continue without faltering, telemedicine was introduced and embraced at an astonishing percentage increase from any time in the past. This  enabled established patients uninterrupted care, but the new benefit was accessibility by patients from distant areas to this #1 leading cancer center of the Southeast, seeking second opinions. Moffit grabbed the sour lemon of this pandemic and made lemonade out of it's intent. These telemedicine appointments now spare so many from difficult and dangerous travels and they bring the care right into our homes, and the experience, I can tell you, is wonderful. 

In 2020 there's an unthwarted, courageous effort that continues at Moffitt Cancer Center. Patients press forward in treatment and disease monitoring. Research steadfastly surges to new levels of addressing this disease that touches all our lives and, God willing one day, a cure will come. That takes courage and it takes an army to support it.

Please join me in raising funds for Moffitt patients, families, survivors, and caregivers by making a gift to my personal fundraising page. Every Dollar donated goes to research. Whether you can give $10 or $1,000, every dollar is critical to supporting Moffitt's mission - to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.

As a patient who's life was saved by the Moffitt team, I personally thank for your support and being an important part of the Miles for Moffitt community. Change can be monumentally good, imagine a world where cancer is cured. Let's rally for that change!