IF YOU or SOMEONE YOU KNOW is BATTLING CANCER YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS. Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation Summer 2014, Vol. 5, Issue 2 From the Executive Director Mark A. Neidig, Sr. [email protected] You have been my motivation and inspiration. What a privilege its been to be a part of this team! Five years has gone by so quickly, and Im lucky to have met each and every one of you along the way. For my last time, Id like to thank all of the people I have met along this journey. First, to our board of directors who have been unwavering in their quest to prove the research. My staff. Wow. Day after day, committed to do their very best to emulate the mission in everything they do. Our volunteers. Dedicated to bring a better way to fruition. Our volunteers went above and beyond at every opportunity, and most were so dedicated to the cause that it seemed we couldnt keep them busy enough. You, our donors! Your time is priceless and appreciated, and your donations have made groundbreaking research possible. You should take great pride in reaching the goal. Our researchers; now my friends. Drs. Curley, Corr, Serda, Kruse, Geller and Kim ... thank you for selflessly advancing the cause. None of this would be possible without everyone Ive mentioned and for that, I am grateful. But, I truly am most grateful to the cancer community. You have humbled me beyond measure by your life and your resolve to live. You have been my motivation and my inspiration. Thank you for believing! You initiated and drove the campaign of resolve. Your steadfast support has kept us on our toes, and its because of you that weve worked so hard to realize our goals. A better way is coming, and I thank each and every one of you for the role youve played. One word comes to mind when we reflect over the past six years: resolve. As a noun, it means a firm determination to do something and as a verb, to find a solution. Today, we celebrate resolve as a noun, and a verb. As a nation, our resolve began long before the creation of the Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation. Some of those beginnings link back to President Nixons declaration of the War on Cancer, or even with the discovery of John Kanzius and a better way. Every year, more than 500,000 Americans die from cancer. These victims and their loved ones have served as the source of our resolve. As this horrid disease gained prominence in the medical community, the word cancer was rarely used. Now, this name is used interchangeably with every ailment that has mutations. However, the evident truth remains that there is a dire need for a better way of treatment. This truth is precisely why the Kanzius Foundation was founded: to create national and global awareness of the potentials of the Kanzius Noninvasive Radiowave Cancer Treatment and to raise the funds to help accelerate the speed at which research progresses through human trials. A succinct and sunset-driven mission. It all began when an Erie, Pennsylvania businessman, John Kanzius, was diagnosed with a rare form of B-Cell leukemia and consequently set out to find a better way to treat the disease. Early in his career, John learned that metal heated up when exposed to radiowaves. Experimenting in his garage, he made a crude radio frequency device using his wifes pie pans and two Ham radios - one acting as a generator, the other as a receptor. He then took a hot dog, tied it to a string and dangled it between the pie pans. He turned the radios on, but nothing happened. Later, John inserted a small metal probe into the tip of the hot dog and thats when the magic began. The hot dog began to heat up solely around the metal while the rest of the hot dog remained cold and unaffected. With this simple experiment, the idea of a better way was born. Taking an idea from concept to market is no easy task - especially when you are trying to survive your own personal battle with cancer. John sought the public support of elected officials, the local media, friends and the communities in which he lived - Erie and Sanibel, Florida. He was relentless and never allowed naysayers to discourage him from his core mission. Despite Johns resolve, time was against him. He had created a for-profit company, ThermMed, to take the technology and device to market. John sought community support to fund the bench-side clinical research to prove the treatment concept. The public response was overwhelmingly positive. Volunteers from around the world engaged friends to conduct grassroots fundraisers, and families of cancer victims directed memorial gifts in lieu of flowers to the research. The donations raised always went to the institutions conducting the research, never to Johns company or family. In 2008, a group of Erie community leaders and friends set up the Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation as a registered 501c3 non-profit organization to keep the dream alive. It would take many more people than those in the small communities of Erie and Sanibel to fund the necessary research to prove Johns idea. The Kanzius Foundations charter was clearly written with the ultimate goal to complete the pre-clinical work and go out of business - a rare nonprofit model. Following Johns passing, the organization had to restart, redefine and recommit. They hired Mark A. Neidig, Sr. from Washington, DC as their first executive director to take the message of a better way globally. There was a succinct goal: fund all of the research necessary. Integrating multiple communication platforms, the Kanzius Foundation captured the hearts and imaginations of countless people around the world with a new concept: destroy the cancer cell, not the patient. The Kanzius Foundation was committed to updating donors, sharing relevant news to the cancer community and funding the research. Existing donors were contacted via direct mail while social media was leveraged to engage a new viral audience. Each person was unapologetically asked for donations on a routine and consistent basis. As you reflect back over the years, think of the Pepsi Refresh Project, Leslie Stahl and 60 Minutes, the Lester and Sue Smith Pink- Well Challenge, the Ellen DeGeneres Award competition, Glenn Becks Night of Big Dreams, faces2012 and the Million Dollar Challenge. All of these platforms allowed the global audience to grow, which in turn heightened the level of donations received. Throughout the projects existence, more than $16 million was contributed to make essential research possible and proving Johns better way. This resulted in more than 25 peer-reviewed, published manuscripts in scientific and medical journals - a key element in securing FDA approval for human trials to be initiated. On May 20th, the Kanzius Foundations Board of Directors announced that a final study was being conducted and that Dr. Steven Curleys lab has received all of the funds necessary to take the Kanzius technology to the FDA. On the heels of that announcement, we can confidently say that our mission is complete, and the operations of the Kanzius Foundation will cease on June 30, 2014. To keep true to our mission and to honor the wishes of John Kanzius, we have set up three special funds that will assist in facilitating Phase II human trials in Erie, Southwest Florida, and at several additional to-be-selected sites. Upon closing, all remaining assets and donations will be granted to these new funds. Details on how you can continue giving toward the next phase of human trials can be found in the next article. For the duration of our work, your stories have been our inspiration, our resolve. YOU have brought the Kanzius technology to this new milestone. Your dedication, generosity and support have given countless cancer patients and their loved ones hope. A better way has never been closer, and as we conclude our role and hand the baton over to those responsible for the next stage, please, resolve to resolve! Keeping the Dream Alive! Remaining true to our mission and the cancer community we serve, the Kanzius Foundation has granted all of its remaining assets and donations to three newly created funds in the hometown communities of John Kanzius, Northwest Pennsylvania and Southwest Florida, and at Baylor College of Medicine. Each fund, bearing the name Kanzius Human Trials, will provide resources for the institutions to conduct human clinical trials. It will also provide a new platform for you to continue to contribute philanthropically in the years to come. Human clinical trials ARE NOT taking place currently; the contact information below is solely for making a donation. Thank you for keeping the dream of a better way...ALIVE! When donating, please specify The Kanzius Human Trial Fund. To facilitate human trials in the Erie Community... To facilitate human trials in SW Florida... To facilitate human trials at several to-be selected sites... The Erie Community Foundation 459 West Sixth Street Erie, Pennsylvania 16507 Lee Memorial Health System Foundation PO Box 2218, Fort Myers, FL33902 -or- 16451 HealthPark Commons Dr., Ste. 200 Fort Myers, Florida 33908 Baylor College of Medicine Office of Development One Baylor Plaza, MS160 Houston, Texas 77030 The price Good Men pay for inattention to public affairs, is to be Ruled by Evil Men.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 15:21:52 +0000
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