Colleen’s Dream Foundation Grants Over $12,000 to UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center to Fund Ovarian Cancer Research
San Diego Chargers kicker Nick Novak, Colleen’s Dream Foundation and Kicking For The Dream, team up to grant over $12,000 to UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center for ovarian cancer research being conducted by Dr. Christian Barrett, according to Colleen’s Dream Foundation President Billy Cundiff.
“Dr. Barrett is a promising young investigator,” says Cundiff. “His enthusiasm for his work is incredible. Colleen’s Dream is proud to team up with Nick Novak and the San Diego Chargers to help fund Dr. Barrett’s cutting edge through our Kicking For The Dream program.”
Kicking For The Dream is an online fundraising platform created by NFL kicker Billy Cundiff to raise money for Colleen’s Dream Foundation; a foundation dedicated to funding the efforts of young investigators conducting research on ovarian cancer.
Novak, who has experienced personal loss to cancer, said he had no hesitation when Cundiff asked him to participate in Kicking For The Dream’s efforts. He says he is excited to help fund Dr. Barrett’s ovarian cancer research.
“We have all been affected by cancer in some way or another,” says Novak. “Ovarian cancer, often referred to as the “silent killer” is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. I fully support Kicking For The Dream and its mission to raise money to support research conducted by young investigators like UCSD’s Dr. Christian Barrett.“
Dr. Barrett, a project scientist at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, says his current research topic is to discover molecules that are present only in ovarian tumors, and not in any normal body tissues. He says this topic is interesting because both the implications, and the challenges, are huge.
“The most effective way to improve survival rates for patients with ovarian cancer is to detect the disease early,” says Dr. Barrett. “For the last four years, I have been working to develop and apply a powerful genomics technology to discover molecules only present in ovarian tumor cells that could be detected during routine gynecologic examination. My work is based on deep computational analysis of the human genome and on molecular profiling experiments of hundreds of ovarian tumors.”
He says the grant from Colleen’s Dream Foundation will help him pursue this research aggressively.
“Support from Colleen’s Dream Foundation is perfectly timed to enable our team to rapidly perform needed validation experiments.”
Go here for more about Dr. Christian Barrett.
Go here for more about the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.
ABOUT KICKING FOR THE DREAM:
Billy Cundiff, who is the kicker for the Cleveland Browns, and has been an NFL kicker for over 10 years for teams such as the Cowboys, Saints, Ravens and Redskins, launched Kicking For The Dream in May of 2013, as an effort to support Colleen’s Dream Foundation, a foundation which raises money to support research for the early detection of, and improved treatment for, ovarian cancer.
ABOUT COLLEEN’S DREAM FOUNDATION:
Colleen’s Dream Foundation started in 2012 and supports research for early detection and improved treatment for ovarian cancer. The story of Colleen’s Dream started in 2007 when Colleen Drury –Nicole Cundiff’ mother and Billy Cundiff’s mother-in-law- was diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer. The family became aware of a new world that was filled with invasive surgery, harsh chemotherapy, and lots of uncertainty, and realized they needed to help others who were dealing with ovarian cancer.
Colleen’s Dream Foundation believes it is important to raise money for research that will lead to reliable early detection testing and improved treatment for ovarian cancer. Because so little is known about ovarian cancer in proportion to other women’s health issues, there is an incredible opportunity for research and education.
Colleen’s Dream Foundation is a qualified 501 (c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Arizona.