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Blog Entries - fundraising
New UCCI - Brandons' Foundation Research Fund
Establishment of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute Brandon C. Gromada Head & Neck Cancer Foundation Research Fund Several weeks ago Brandon's Foundation made an agreement to award an annual grant to a University of Cincinnati
Your Support Means Everything!
Thank you! Thank you Mardi Gras MASKerade 2018 attendees, table sponsors, auction item donors, Constellation Brands, Inc. for sponsoring the Benn Banks Craft Wine & Beer Raffle, mail-in donors, speakers, and the staff of the 20th Century
2017 Grant Awards
The Board of Directors of Brandon’s Foundation recently announced its 2017 research grant awardees. Nira Ben-Jonathan, PhD, Professor of Cancer Biology, University of Cincinnati (UC), Ohio is the recipient of a $20,000 grant to investigate
Mardi Gras MASKerade 2017 a success because of you!
Thank you! Thank you Mardi Gras MASKerade 2017 attendees, table sponsors, auction item donors, Constellation Brands, Inc. for sponsoring the Benn Banks Craft Wine & Beer Raffle, mail-in donors, speakers, and the staff of the 20th Century
Head For A Cure At CycleBar - April 16, 2016
Head For A Cure At CycleBar during Head & Neck Cancer Awareness Week when Brandon's Foundation teams with Kappa Sigma at the University of Cincinnati fraternity and the CycleBar Rookwood studio for an indoor cyclethon! Please join us April
Announcing the 2015 Research Grant Recipients
Funds will go to head and neck cancer researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the University of California, San Diego
Brandon C. Gromada died of head and neck cancer at the age of 38 three years ago today, June 2, 2012. It seems fitting that the foundation named for him announces its 2015 research grants on this third anniversary of his death. The recipients of the two grants are Nooshin Hashemi, M.D. and El Mustapha Bahassi, Ph.D. of the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine, and Rutherford (Weg) M. Ongkeko, M.D., Ph.D. of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
The UC College of Medicine researchers are being awarded a $20,000 grant to study "Pharmacogenomic Profiling of Circulating Tumor Cells to Guide Head and Neck Cancer Therapy." A $15,000 grant will provide seed funding for Dr. Ongkeko’s research, "Characterization of Long Non-coding RNA in Poorly Differentiated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma," at UCSD. The recipients of both grants expressed similar themes when notified their research projects were chosen for the two grants. They noted the difficulties for those seeking funding for head and neck cancer research. According to Dr. Bahassi, "Generous gifts from foundations like yours are becoming essential as research funding is facing daunting challenges." All reiterated Dr. Ongkeko’s pledge to use the funds wisely in order to better understand head and neck cancer and explore treatments that "ultimately find a cure for this unforgiving disease."
The foundation’s grant selection process takes time and effort. A “request for proposals” is made early in the year. Each submitted proposal is then sent to several experts in the field of head and neck cancer who volunteer their time to review and rate various merits of a proposal. (Submitted proposals are “blinded,” so reviewers do not know a researcher’s name.) The foundation’s board of directors uses the reviewers’ ratings to guide the final selection of projects for funding.
About Head and Neck Cancer
"Cancer of the head and neck, which includes oral cancer, receives little public attention," said Karen Gromada, chairperson of the foundation’s board of directors and Brandon’s mother, “although it is among the most common – and the most deadly – cancers in the United States.” The sixth most common cancer in the United States, its incidence has risen significantly in the last one to two decades among those 25-50 years of age. Usually a form of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), head and neck cancer’s low 50% five-year survival rate has changed little for decades. The goal of Brandon's foundation is to provide funding for innovative head and neck cancer research, which will result in cures and more effective, less-debilitating treatments while also raising awareness about the disease. The Gromadas want to end the devastation of head and neck cancer so "no other family will have to deal with the sadness we will always feel with Brandon’s death."
Join us now to HEAD 4 A Cure! Donate today and help end head and neck cancer tomorrow.