Twenty years ago, a close friend’s sister and mother were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and both succumbed to it. That was my introduction to this dreadful disease and I committed to join them in supporting the Hirshberg Foundation in an effort to find a cure. Over the years, other friends and acquaintances have battled pancreatic cancer, most losing the battle, including my dear friend, Lisa Knight (pictured above on a ski trip we took to Mammoth in January of 2018). Lisa was diagnosed less than two months later and she lost her battle last year. Meanwhile, another friend Walter (whose wife was one of my colleagues at UCLA) has been battling pancreatic cancer for more than five years and he has been through the ringer for sure.

Pancreatic cancer is a vicious disease and it has nearly doubled in two decades. It now claims more lives in the US than breast cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer, ovarian cancer, lymphoma or leukemia. It has become an epidemic so please help us do something about it. The proceeds of this event are funneled directly to pancreatic cancer researchers in the form of seed grants and you can see exactly where your donations go (this is where the money went last year: http://pancreatic.org/research/seed-grant-program/seed-grant-recipients/). The Foundation funds as many seed grants as possible but many robust and promising grants are passed over, due to a lack of funding, and for every grant that is passed over, hope for understanding this deadly disease and hope for a cure is diminished.

The 23rd annual LA Cancer Challenge will take place on Sunday, October 25th, and it’s a virtual event this year, due to COVID, so you can participate from wherever you are. Please join my team and/or make a donation. I never thought pancreatic cancer would touch me personally – no one ever does – but it has, and we are all at risk, so let’s work together to fund a cure!