To paraphrase distinguished UT alum Walter Cronkite, for children with cancer, our healthcare system is neither healthy, nor caring, nor a system.
Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 15 in the U.S., and while exciting new research avenues are available, researchers need your help.
Reduced financial incentives for pharmaceutical companies mean that research isn't a priority. And because kids can't vote and aren't politically organized, politicians have a less compelling incentive to steer research funds their way, all in spite of the fact that childhood cancer research has yielded innovations, like combination chemo, that spill over to adult cancer research.
The result? According to The Atlantic, only 10% of childhood cancer grants even get funded by the National Cancer Institute.
The new administration's proposed cuts of 20% to the NCI's parent institution, the NIH, will only make this worse.
I'm shaving to help St. Baldrick's raise money to fill in the research funding gap, and I hope you join me in making a difference.
