The incredible support that Ohio State’s cancer program receives from our community and far beyond is never more apparent than at the annual check celebration for Pelotonia, our grassroots bicycle tour that raises millions of dollars for research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).
At the Nov. 16 check celebration for Pelotonia 17, we learned that riders, virtual riders and donors raised a record $26.2 million, boosting Pelotonia’s nine-year total to $157 million—every dollar of which directly benefits cancer research, thanks to the event’s major funding partners. Donors from all 50 states and more than 60 countries contributed to the funding total for Pelotonia 17, which drew 8,022 riders and more than 3,000 volunteers.
This issue of impactCancer contains both a Pelotonia 17 recap and a story about four pieces of sophisticated scientific equipment purchased with Pelotonia dollars to help our researchers conduct cutting-edge cancer research. Pelotonia will observe its 10th anniversary in 2018; we extend our deepest gratitude to all who have contributed over the years to this amazingly successful endeavor.
Also herein you’ll find stories about a pair of generous donors who have stepped forward in a big way to benefit our cause against cancer, along with a profile of a grateful patient who participated in a clinical trial at the OSUCCC – James and is cancer-free despite once thinking he had less than a year to live following a metastatic cancer diagnosis.
We hope that in perusing this issue you will feel the excitement being generated by the combined efforts of our cancer program and the community as we work together to create a cancer-free world.
Raphael Pollock, MD, PhD
Director, The Ohio State University
Comprehensive Cancer Center
William Farrar, MD
Interim CEO, James Cancer Hospital
and Solove Research Institute