Childhood Cancer Research
The Michael Cuccione Foundation Annual Fundraising Gala on September 22, 2018 was a great success raising over $310,000. This year's gala was a night to celebrate not only 23 years of fighting childhood cancer but also a night to honour and recognize Domenic Cuccione for receiving the Order of British Columbia - an honour bestowed on Gloria Cuccione in 2014.
The highlight of the evening was presenting 1 Million Dollars to the Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program (MCCCRP) at the Research Institute at BC Children’s Hospital. While many advances have occurred in curative therapies for children diagnosed with cancer, the effects of these treatments can potentially lead to long term and life-threatening complications and in about 15-20% of the time the cancer therapies do not work. As a result, several programs in the MCCCRP are focusing on this challenge including the Better Responses through Avatomics Evidence (BRAVE), the expansion of developmental therapeutics program and the novel treatment of chimeric-antibody-receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for children in BC with hard to treat cancers. Dr. Kirk Schultz, Director and Dr. Chris Maxwell, Researcher of the MCCCRP were on hand to update everyone on these ground-breaking initiatives.
We were pleased again this year to welcome Steve Darling as MC who also lent his skills to the live auction. Special guests Casey Wright, Adam Lucas, Linda Reid, MLA Richmond South Centre, Joan Isaacs, MLA Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, Mayor Richard Steward of Coquitlam, Honorable Wally Opall, Former BC Attorney General and Kirk McLean were also in attendance.
Awesome live entertainment by Moon Coin Show Band was a perfect way to finish the evening.
Over twenty years ago, scientists in the MCCCRP embarked on a tenacious mission to fulfill Michael's dream of curing childhood cancer. With the support of everyone at this event, they are pushing the boundaries of science to make leading edge discoveries in cancer research, developing personalized therapies that are safer and more effective, and by training the next generation of scientists and researchers in pediatric cancer.
Together we are "Making a Difference" in the lives of children and families living with cancer!
