With more than 3,800 participants, this year’s UC Irvine Anti-Cancer Challenge has resulted in over $974,736 raised for cancer research! Eighty-nine participants — faculty, staff, and friends of the UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences and the UCI Health Department of Pharmacy Services — joined together as UCI Pharmacy’s Anti-Cancer Challenge Team and raised $6,570.
“Our combined team came out in full force this year to support groundbreaking, UCI-led clinical trials. I am honored to be a part of a cause that will have a direct benefit for our patients and all of Orange County,” said Dr. Shawn Griffin, health sciences assistant clinical professor in the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.
This is the first time that the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences and the UCI Health Department of Pharmacy Services have linked up as one Anti-Cancer Challenge team, and the collaboration was a success! Dr. Griffin and Tania Cuellar, project policy analyst for the UCI Health Department of Pharmacy Services, led the team as co-captains.
“The Anti-Cancer Challenge not only helps contribute to life-changing cancer trials, but it also represents a moment of unity,” Cuellar shared. “I enjoyed the enthusiasm we all had leading up to the walk. It is an empowering feeling knowing that you are helping your organization make a difference in so many lives. Having the UCI Health Department of Pharmacy Services join forces with the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences was such a great collaboration. We’re already looking forward to next year’s Anti-Cancer Challenge and plan on forming an even bigger team.”
During last year’s Anti-Cancer Challenge, the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences Team had 30 participants and raised $4,170, and the UCI Health Department of Pharmacy Services Team had 39 participants and raised $2,350.
The UCI Anti-Cancer Challenge brings people from throughout the Anteater community together to run, walk, or bike, uniting to provide funding to projects focused on learning more about cancer and how to treat it. This year’s event was held on Saturday, October 7 at Aldrich Park. Those who couldn’t make it but still wanted to help the cause were able to attend virtually or donate.
The money raised by the Anti-Cancer Challenge is distributed to researchers who are conducting studies about cancer, in partnership with the UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). Dr. Claudia Benavente and Dr. Mahtab Jafari, of the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, were among the awardees for last year’s Anti-Cancer Challenge. Their projects, “Exploiting USP7 Inhibitors as a Therapeutic Approach In Osteosarcoma” and “Impact of Personality on Adherence to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy in Patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia,” are part of a large group of initiatives that received funding from the 2022 Anti-Cancer Challenge participants and donors. The projects that receive funding from this year’s event will be announced at a later date.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2023 Anti-Cancer Challenge!
