Weizmann Advocates for Curiosity Susan Schulz and Rita J. King.
Raising Funds and Awareness about the Globally Collaborative Integrated Cancer Center
by Elizabeth Newbern
The Integrated Cancer Center is a flagship project of the Weizmann Institute, headed by Prof. Moshe Oren, a world-renowned cancer research and head of the European Association for Cancer Research. The Weizmann Advocates for Curiosity have selected this groundbreaking project as the focus of the first e-philanthropy campaign supported by the group. 100 percent of the funds raised will be donated to the Clinical Collaboration Fund.
Background
Shortly after noon on April 16th, I arrived at my destination in midtown Manhattan. I rang the doorbell of a neat seven-story townhouse with a gold placard declaring that the building is home to Science House. The rooms all have names. The front entry is called Wings of Madness, not just because it is full of butterflies from around the world but also because of Paul Hoffman’s book Wings of Madness: Alberto Santos-Dumont and the Invention of Flight.
Santos-Dumont was a creative genius and impeccably dressed aeronaut who dazzled Paris in a flying dirigible of his own invention. His flights took place in 1906, the same year the Science House headquarters, initially built by Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, were completed. The Wings of Madness entry portal is a reminder to visitors that the history of innovation takes place in context. The rest of Science House is about making the future real. It was here that the first Weizmann Advocates for Curiosity e-philanthropy campaign was created. The campaign will launch on May 4, but this sneak preview is for supporters to get an inside glimpse of the process.
The Smart Bomb
When I arrived, the production team was assembled in the Imagination Room to shoot videos for the e-philanthropy campaign, which is being spearheaded by Science House co-director Rita J. King, who edits this blog and invited me to contribute to it, and Susan Schulz, a former brand director for Cosmopolitan. Rita and Susan are both Weizmann Advocates for Curiosity, a group that meets regularly to learn about groundbreaking advances in science for the benefit of humanity, such as Weizmann’s “smart bomb.” The smart bomb is a shocking cancer treatment that has successfully targeted a prostate tumor using chlorophyll and lasers. Within twenty minutes the tumor was completely gone, and the cure came with zero side effects. Learning about this treatment inspired them to contribute to fundraising efforts, and also toward raising awareness about the spectacular research being done every day at Weizmann.
The photodynamic smart bomb is still going through clinical trials, but the results have been very promising not only for prostate cancer treatments, but for cancer treatment in general. Weizmann collaborators, including Memorial Sloan Kettering and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, are testing potential adaptations for other cancers.
The campaign to raise funds for the Integrated Cancer Center, which begins on May 4 and spans three weeks until Memorial Day on May 25, focuses on the smart bomb but also the people of the future, with the hope that they will not have to suffer painful or outdated treatments in the aftermath of a cancer diagnosis.
Susan dedicated her video to her uncle, Johnny, who sometimes went skiing with his family during cancer treatments that spanned seven years until his death. Rita dedicated her video to friends of hers, including the artist Debra Hampton, who have been diagnosed young with breast cancer that can be spotted far more easily than it can be treated. It is the hope of both advocates that this campaign will raise funds and awareness for the globally collaborative work being conducted at the Weizmann Institute so that in the future, a cancer diagnosis doesn’t have to be terrifying.
The campaign will go live on May 4. Check it out here.
