Salk’s Geoffrey Wahl (second from left) and representatives of other institutions accept a donation check from Pedal the Cause. Image credit: Pedal the Cause
Twenty-six intrepid cyclists from Team Salk Cancer Center participated in the annual Padres Pedal the Cause fundraiser on November 11–12, which raised $2.4 million for cancer research—the most attained in the event’s five-year history. The funds will be shared with three other local cancer research centers.
Taking on the Big FiveCancer is not like other diseases. Most conditions have external causes—bacteria, viruses, injury—but cancer comes from inside us. Cells go rogue, divide recklessly, invade other tissues and spread throughout the body. They do things normal cells cannot do.
Dan Lewis – Intense ConnectionFew trustees have had a connection as intensely personal as new Board Chair Dan Lewis, who knows firsthand that cures, indeed, begin with Salk. Thanks to the research of Salk Professor Tony Hunter, the drug Gleevec was born. And thanks to Gleevec, Lewis survived leukemia.
Jared SmithNeuroscientist and self-described history geek Jared Smith wants to boldly go where no one has gone before. “If this were the 1400s,” asks Smith, “and we were Europeans exploring the world, where is the new world?” For Smith and colleagues in Xin Jin’s lab, the answer is simple: the brain.
