The Prostate Cancer Foundation has announced a $2.5 million gift from Robert F. Smith, the founder, chair, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, in support of research focused on African-American men and to launch a precision oncology center in Chicago- to aid veterans in the metropolitan area and beyond – who are battling prostate cancer.
The Smith Center of Excellence represents a new model of American philanthropy and will pave the way for groundbreaking discoveries that will have a transformative impact on our research enterprise and its role in improving health equity for veterans and their families. It is the largest donation ever made specifically targeting research and care for African-American men with prostate cancer who, statistically, are 73 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than any other race or ethnicity.
For veterans with late-stage disease who are running out of choices, this gift ill enable the Prostate Cancer Foundation to accelerate the work of clinical investigators working to solve some of the most lethal forms of prostate cancer while also advancing the quality of healthcare for African-American men.
One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. It is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among veterans, accounting for a third of all male cancer cases. African-American men are 2.3 times more likely to die from the disease. To date, little is known about the biological reasons for the alarming disparities.
In 2018, PCF will fund a series of precision medicine teams at leading Veterans Administration medical centers and universities across the country through a call for proposals issued in January. Although all highly innovative research proposals will be considered, priority will be given to higher risk-highest potential of impact to maximize the benefits to veterans, with a focus on African-Americans, in the near term.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993, PCF has raised more than $745 million and provided funding to more than 2,000 research programs at nearly 200 cancer centers and universities. The PCF global research enterprise now extends to 19 countries. PCF advocates for greater awareness of prostate cancer and more efficient investment of governmental research funds for transformational cancer research. Its efforts have helped produce a 20-fold increase in government funding for prostate cancer.
