A Letter From Our Chairman & CEO | Part II: What We’ve Done
Our mission is simple: To fund stomach cancer research for a cure and bringing awareness to the disease. Our Vision is bold: To create and contribute to a world where cancer is cured, not just treated.
When I started Project Periwinkle, I would have called it a success if we were able to help just one person. Over the past 10 years, I’ve seen us grow and achieve far more than that. While leading this organization has been the greatest honor, it has come with the weight of seeing and knowing what we mean to others. I’ve heard the stories of countless others around the world who too have been deeply impacted and changed by cancer, and it is for them that we keep pushing forward. I know the work we are making possible means something, and it has always been a priority of mine to ensure we know were every dollar goes from the moment it comes to us to well after we support a new study. I have witnessed advancements in medicine that are paving the course for better treatment and more personalized cancer care; work that is pushing at the status quo and changing how things are viewed because our dreams and possibilities know no bounds; results that have proven to improve outcomes, shape lives, and change the course of so many facing arguable one of the most horrific battles known to mankind. We’ve believed in programs and empowered those who give their everything for what it means to those who are touched by it. We’ve never settled for less than what we know is possible.
When Project Periwinkle first started, we were contributing to existing programs and studies, adding resources to vital work so it could continue. As we grew as an organization and started to build relationships, we shifted from contributing to ongoing programs to starting programs of our own, shaped by proposals received from cancer centers and researchers. These programs wouldn’t have been possible without us, and as Phase I’s were completed, their results were used to show promise and secure additional phase funding from other institutions and partners. Some of the work we have supported includes:
Focusing on holistic patient life measures; including reducing side effects from gastric cancer therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery
Better predicting tumor behavior and response, and to inform more personalized treatment plans for improved outcomes for gastric cancer patients.
A prototype probe of robotic haptics and used it to evaluate nine gastric cancer specimens & developing an AI-driven model to predict tumor response to preoperative therapy.
Developing a model to better enable phase recognition and strengthen surgical approaches of pancreatectomy and gastrectomy.
We have been a major supporter of many institutions, including Saint Louis University, the University of Nebraska, Vanderbilt, and most notably, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and to date have raised over a quarter million dollars for research programs.