COLUMBUS, Ga., April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac, the company
that helps employers enhance benefits offerings to employees, today
announced it will donate a total of $1,060,000 to the American Association for Cancer
Research (AACR) to help defray the costs facing cancer researchers.
The three-year scholarship awards focus on career development,
scholar-in-training; a special program for high school students,
and a task force on pediatric oncology. The company is
announcing the scholarships this evening at the AACR-Aflac
Incorporated Scholar Awards Reception in Orlando, Florida. A total of 43 researchers
will receive scholarship funds from an initial installment of
$265,000.
"Finding a cure for cancer has been our primary philanthropic
cause for more than 15 years," Aflac Foundation President
Kathelen Amos said. "Finding a cure
begins with making sure our up-and-coming researchers have the
tools they need to make a difference. We are honored to support the
AACR any way we can."
Since 1997, Aflac and the American Association for Cancer
Research have been partners in the fight against cancer. The
collaborative efforts focus primarily on better understanding of
cancer science, especially as it relates to childhood cancers.
Aflac has provided scholarships for more than 600 young researchers
since the inception of its partnership with AACR, including Dr.
Charles Mullighan from St. Jude's Children's Hospital (see bio
below).
"The Aflac award has provided crucial support in the initial
stages of my career as an independent investigator," Dr. Mullighan
said. "The award allowed me to pursue high risk studies examining
the genetics of Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and the
development of novel mouse models of ALL. These are clinically
relevant studies as they have defined new genetic changes in this
disease and helped elucidate their contribution to
leukemogenesis."
In addition to the AACR Scholarships, since 1995, Aflac has
raised and donated more than $62
million for the treatment and research of childhood
cancer.
Facts about pediatric cancers
- Cancer is the leading cause of death in children under age 15.
American Cancer Society (ACS 2010)
- Leukemia causes one-third of childhood cancer deaths. (ACS
2010)
- Mortality rates for childhood cancer have declined by 55
percent since 1975. (ACS 2008)
- There are estimated to be at least 270,000 survivors of
childhood cancer in the United
States.
2011 Scholarship Recipients
- Antonio L. Amelio, PhD -
Scripps Institute, Florida
- Guillermo Armaiz Pena, PhD –
University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer
Center
- Kofi Asomaning, MD –
Harvard School of Public Health
- Gregor M. Balaburski, PhD – Fox
Chase Cancer Center
- Daniel W. Bowles, MD -
University of Colorado School of
Medicine
- J. Chad Brenner, Graduate
– University of Michigan
- Sara A. Byron, PhD -
Translational Genomics Research Institute
- Qi Cao, PHD – University of
Michigan
- Tooba A. Cheema, PhD –
Massachusetts General Hospital
- Ru Chen, PHD - UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
- Brooke C. Christensen, PhD –
Brown University
- Leonie H.A.M de Wilt, MSc –
Virginia University Medical Center
- Jan B. Egan, PhD – Mayo Clinic,
Arizona
- Inna V. Fedorenko, Graduate - H.
Lee Moffitt Cancer Ctr. & Res. Inst.
- Dinorah Friedmann-Morvinski, PhD - Salk Inst. Cancer Ctr.
- Nicolas N. Garnier, MSc - Lady
Davis Institute, JGH
- Hossien A. Hamed, BS -
Virginia Commonwealth University
- Linda Holmfeldt, PhD - St Jude Children's Research
Hospital
- Shu-hao Hsu, Graduate – Ohio State
University
- Jae Hong Im, PhD – University of Oxford
- Yuqi Jing, PhD - University Of Miami, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer
Center
- Neil Johnson, PhD – Dana Farber
Cancer Institute
- Amjad P. Khan, PhD -
University of Michigan Medical
School
- Hyung-Gu Kim, PhD -
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard
Medical School
- James L. LaBelle, MD, PhD – Dana
Farber Cancer Institute
- Andrea Lai, Graduate –
McGill University
- Jill E. Larsen, PhD - UT
Southwestern Medical Center
- Melissa K. McConechy. BS - BC
Cancer Agency, University of British
Columbia
- Andrew S. Moore, MBBS – The
Institute of Cancer Research
- Britney L. Moss, Graduate –
Washington University School of
Medicine
- Min Ni, PhD – Dana Farber Cancer
Institute
- Wen-Bin Ou, PhD – Brigham and Women's Hospital
- John R. Prensner, Graduate –
University of Michigan
- Jeanine M.L. Roodhart, MD – University Medical Center
Utrecht
- Mike R. Russell, PhD –
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
- Takaomi Sanda, MD, PhD – Dana
Farber Cancer Institute
- Prasanna K. Santhekadur, PhD – Virginia
Commonwealth University
- Punit Saraon, PhD – University of Toronto/Mount Sinai Hospital
- Timothy K. Starr, PhD - Univ. of
Minnesota Masonic Cancer Ctr.
- Li Tao, MD - Univ. of Minnesota
Masonic Cancer Ctr.
- Jose T. Thaiparambil, PhD -
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory
University
- Chery Whipple, PhD - Dartmouth
Norris Cotton Cancer Ctr.
- Kenichi Yoshida, MD - Cancer
Genomics Project, The University of
Tokyo
ABOUT DR. CHARLES
MULLIGHAN
Dr. Charles Mullighan, a
physician scientist fellow in Dr. James R.
Downing's laboratory at St. Jude Children's Hospital, began
his work on a number of important studies that have used genome
wide profiling approaches to identify genetic alterations
contributing to the pathogenesis and treatment of acute
lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Over the years, he has published over
80 peer-reviewed articles, many in prestigious journals like
Nature, Genes & Development,
Science, Cancer Cell and Nature Genetics.
An important finding was published in the New England Journal
of Medicine in 2009 where Dr. Mullighan and his colleagues
identified genetic mutations that predict a high likelihood of
relapse in children with ALL. In this study, he used microarrays
and DNA sequencing to analyze genetic information on leukemia cells
obtained at diagnosis from 221 children with high-risk leukemia. He
used an unbiased method to determine a group of genetic
abnormalities that are significantly associated with poor outcome.
The most significant associations they found were with the
IKAROS gene and may mean that a clinical test for
alterations of IKAROS could prove valuable for predicting
poor outcomes in children with ALL.
Although Dr. Mullighan is at an early phase in his career, he
has had an impressive track record in obtaining extramural funding.
Aside from receiving the AACR-Aflac, Incorporated Career
Development Award for Pediatric Cancer Research in 2008, Dr.
Mullighan was awarded a Pew Scholars Program grant in the
Biomedical Sciences in 2009. This success has continued as his
career has progressed, and he recently received the 2011 AACR
Gertrude B. Elion Award for his research on exome sequencing of
hypodiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Dr. Mullighan serves as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous journals
including Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research and New
England Journal of Medicine and is currently an editor of the
journal Blood. He has also been recruited to serve as
a reviewer for National Health and Medical Research Council project
grant applications.
ABOUT AFLAC
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits
fast. For 55 years, Aflac insurance policies have helped provide a
safety net and given policyholders the opportunity to focus on
recovery, not financial stress. In the
United States, Aflac is the number one provider of
guaranteed-renewable insurance. In Japan, Aflac is the number one insurance
company in terms of individual insurance policies in force. Aflac
insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million
people worldwide. For five consecutive years, Aflac has been
recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most
Ethical Companies and by Forbes magazine as one of America's
Best-Managed Companies in the Insurance category. In 2011,
Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best
Companies to Work For in America for the thirteenth consecutive
year. Also, Fortune magazine included Aflac on its list of
Most Admired Companies for the 10th time in 2011. Aflac
Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit
aflac.com or aflacenespanol.com.
ABOUT THE AACR:
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is
to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the
world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to
advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic,
translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals;
and cancer survivors and advocates in the
United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR
marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community
to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment
of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs.
It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research
fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting
attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest
discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences
throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of
topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including
Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major
peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer
Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular
Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers &
Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR
journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total
citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine
for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates,
physicians and scientists.
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Laura Kane
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Robin Y. Wilkey
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Aflac Incorporated
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Aflac Incorporated
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706.596.3493
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1.800.235.2667, Option 3;
Fax: 706.324.6330
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Jon A. Sullivan
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Aflac Incorporated
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706.763.4813
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jsullivan@aflac.com
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SOURCE Aflac