Why Support the AACR?

Recently, I took some time to really think about the AACR’s purpose. Why does this organization exist? What difference are we making in the community?  

With more than 40,000 members working with the same fire and passion toward a shared mission, the AACR’s impact is immense. Only the AACR brings together the best minds in cancer research to collaborate, to educate, and to discover knowledge that will rid humanity of this disease that still causes more than 8.9 million deaths around the world each year. 

One way the AACR has an impact is by funding scientists via grants, awards, and fellowships. Support from individual donors, corporate partners, and other foundations not only fuels the complete research life cycle—basic, translational, and clinical—but also benefits scientists at all career levels, especially young investigators eager to launch and sustain a career in science. 

Research will have the greatest impact on life. Your family member, your friend, your colleague—all those we care about who are diagnosed with cancer—will have hope for a better quality of life and to live longer. The number of cancer survivors in the U.S. grew from 14.5 million to 15.5 million in just two years, from 2014 to 2016, thanks to the countless hours of research underway in labs all over the world. 

But this is not enough. The number of new cancer cases in the United States is predicted to rise from more than 1.7 million in 2018 to almost 2.4 million in 2035. We need to turn every cancer patient into a cancer survivor. This begins with funding for cures. The AACR Foundation is grateful for your support to be able to provide critical resources for researchers and for joining us in our mission to prevent and cure all cancers. 

Impact. Hope. Life. This is why the AACR exists. 

Mitch Stoller
AACR Foundation Executive Director,
Vice President, Philanthropy