For
Immediate Release
(New York, NY – February 2, 2005) Joan’s
Legacy: The Joan Scarangello Foundation to Conquer Lung
Cancer announced the establishment of a new $100,000
research grant to be named for Barbara Parisi, a lung
cancer advocate and Joan’s Legacy Board Member.
“Barbara Parisi, who
lost her personal battle with lung cancer in December
of 2004, was an inspiration to our board and to everyone
who met her,” said Patrick McNeive, the Foundation’s
president. “She fought for her own life and the
lives of the 160,000 Americans – smokers and nonsmokers
– who succumb to lung cancer every year. She battled
both the disease and the stigma of smoking attached
to lung cancer.”
The new grant, “The
Barbara Parisi Lung Cancer Research Grant,” will
be awarded in the fall of 2005 – and will join
existing grants to bring the Foundation’s total
research funding to over $1 Million in just four years.
In 2004, Joan’s Legacy awarded $300,000 in grants
for new research into lung cancer at three nationally
recognized institutions. In its first year, 2003, the
Foundation awarded $400,000 in research grants to top
U.S. cancer centers.
“Our mission is to
identify and fund innovative research projects that
might never get off the ground without the early support
we provide,” Mr. McNeive said. “Barbara
worked tirelessly to draw attention to and challenge
the woeful lack of funding for lung cancer research.
Establishing a new research grant will honor Barbara
and make a real difference in the campaign against the
nation’s leading cancer killer.”
To date, Joan’s Legacy
has funded research grants at Mayo Clinic, Dana-Farber
Cancer Center at Harvard University, Indiana University,
University of Pittsburgh, University of California -
Davis and Vanderbilt University.
Joan’s Legacy is named
for Joan Scarangello, a writer and nonsmoker who died
at age 47 after a valiant nine-month struggle with lung
cancer. Joan’s Legacy is committed to fighting
lung cancer by searching for a cure and focusing greater
attention on the world’s leading cancer killer.
Founded in 2002, Joan’s Legacy is fast becoming
the “venture capital” for lung cancer research.
Lung cancer is the number
one cancer killer in the United States, taking more
than 160,000 lives each year. Yet lung cancer receives
less research funding than almost any other cancer,
making the work of Joan’s Legacy even more compelling.
Joan’s Legacy will
make grant awards every fall. The Foundation also hosts
a benefit every November (Lung Cancer Awareness Month),
which helps to fund its research initiatives. For more
information about Joan’s Legacy and lung cancer,
please visit www.joanslegacy.org. |
