5 For The Fight, a global movement inviting everyone to give $5 for the fight against cancer, has launched the 5 For The Fight Fellowship. This new program will sponsor nine early-career cancer researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI). The program is designed to help build a pipeline of qualified researchers to accelerate the pace of innovative cancer research.
“If we are going to win the fight against cancer, we need the best and brightest leading out. That means that we need to build the pipeline of talent going into cancer research. They are the real heroes,” said Ryan Smith, co-founder and CEO, Qualtrics and 5 For The Fight. “The 5 For The Fight Fellowship will help us hire more researchers to tackle the disease of our generation— cancer.”
The 5 For The Fight Fellowship is now open for applicants. Researchers selected for the fellowship will each receive $50,000 annually for three years to support their work focused on understanding cancer from its beginnings, moving discoveries from lab bench to patient bedside and into the community, and cancer prevention. An additional $150,000 will be used to help disseminate the results of the research projects and to promote collaboration with other leading cancer researchers and institutions.
“The 5 For The Fight Fellowship will help us launch the careers of up-and-coming researchers at HCI who are working in our labs, clinics, and in the community,” said Mary Beckerle, Ph.D., CEO of Huntsman Cancer Institute. “This support will fuel scientific contributions that otherwise might go unfunded, and support innovative research that will make a meaningful impact on all of us who are affected by cancer.”
5 For The Fight was started by Qualtrics in 2016 as a way to crowdfund cancer research. The campaign quickly took off as people around the world jumped into the cause as a way to honor those they know who have fought or are fighting cancer. The $1.5 million initial grant to launch the 5 For The Fight Fellowship came from thousands of $5 donations and generous contributions from organizations including CBRE, Crawford Door, Davies Design, GBS Benefits, Hillcrest High School, Infinite Scale, Ivanti, J&S Mechanical, J Dawgs, Layton Construction, Platinum Dental, Qualtrics, Relic, Rise Boxing, Ruprecht Realty Utah, SAP, Sure Steel, Timpanogos Half Marathon, UPS Stores of Utah, Waystar, Wright Engineers, and others.
To date, 5 For The Fight has raised more than $25 million. Those funds have fueled several cancer research labs and expanded capacity through supporting the construction of new care facilities.
The new Fellowship, housed at Huntsman Cancer Institute, adds to efforts already underway in Ireland, where the 5 For The Fight Dermot Costello Fellowship was launched in 2017, funding and appointing fellows at Cork Cancer Research Centre via Breakthrough Cancer Research. The team is now three researchers strong and focuses on identifying and delivering ways to harness the immune system to eliminate cancer from the body.
The application process for the nine fellowship positions will open this week. Awardees will be announced in June 2020.