Latest news with #HuntsmanCancerInstitute
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Sigma Chi International Fraternity Commits $31 Million Pledge to Huntsman Cancer Foundation to Establish the Sigma Chi Center for Advanced Therapeutics and Innovation
New Center at Huntsman Cancer Institute Aims to Fund Most Ambitious, Impactful Research to Improve Cancer Care DENVER, June 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntsman Cancer Foundation and Sigma Chi International Fraternity today announced a $31 million pledge to create the Sigma Chi Center for Advanced Therapeutics and Innovation at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Sigma Chi expects to meet their goal, the largest single pledge in the history of men's fraternity, within five to seven years, more than doubling the funds raised by the organization throughout their 12-year partnership with Huntsman Cancer Institute. After fulfilling an $11 million pledge in 2019, Sigma Chi then committed an additional $20 million to support women's research, treatment and prevention. The organization will complete this donation early, finalizing in Fall 2025. 'Since 2013, Sigma Chi has embraced our brother Jon Huntsman's vision of an end to cancer. Across North America, these men have worked tirelessly to raise money through grassroots events and their personal relationships, all in hopes of making the dream of becoming 'The Generation to End Cancer' a reality,' Bob Wilson, 73rd Grand Consul of Sigma Chi International Fraternity, said. 'Today, we are honored to further dedicate ourselves to such a worthy cause by more than doubling our financial commitment to establish the Sigma Chi Center for Advanced Therapeutics and Innovation.' The late Jon M. Huntsman, Sr., a Sigma Chi member honored as a 'Significant Sig' for his exemplary achievements, and his wife, Karen, founded Huntsman Cancer Institute as part of their commitment to creating better outcomes for cancer patients and, ultimately, finding a cure. It is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, providing care to the largest geographic region of any institution. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at Huntsman Cancer Institute than at any other cancer center in the world. The Sigma Chi Center for Advanced Therapeutics and Innovation will fuel groundbreaking research, as well as propel new clinical trials that will lead to safer and more effective treatments, improved quality of life and potential cures for patients across North America and beyond. 'Sigma Chi brings to bear the collective power of nearly 240 undergraduate chapters across North America all coming together to raise money for Huntsman Cancer Foundation,' says Michael Delzotti, FAHP, CFRE, President and COO, Huntsman Cancer Foundation. 'This partnership is of paramount importance to cancer patients and their families who seek treatment not only at Huntsman, but also around the world, because it will drive critical breakthroughs in cancer research. Sigma Chi's rallying cry, to be 'The Generation to End Cancer,' is a powerful force for good.' Sigma Chi undergraduates across the U.S. and Canada have brought their campus communities together to raise funds for the groundbreaking research and innovation taking place at Huntsman Cancer Institute through hallmark fundraising events like Derby Days, while some have raised money throughout the school year. Sigma Chi chapters raised a recording-breaking $5 million in the 2024-2025 school year. 'Huntsman Cancer Institute is united with Sigma Chi in our ambition to end cancer as we know it,' says Mary Beckerle, PhD, CEO of Huntsman Cancer Institute. 'The Sigma Chi Center for Advanced Therapeutics and Innovation will allow us to advance the best science and new clinical trials that will materially change cancer outcomes for individuals across North America and beyond. We are so grateful to Sigma Chi for making this new commitment in our shared quest to eradicate cancer.' About Sigma Chi International Fraternity Founded in 1855, Sigma Chi International Fraternity is a men's organization dedicated to the pursuit of friendship, justice and learning. Today, there are more than 275,000 living members of Sigma Chi, including 17,000 active members at 236 campuses across North America. During its 164-year history, Sigma Chi has initiated more than 350,000 men who have been charged to live according to its seven core principles: courage, wisdom, integrity, high ambition, self-control, courtesy and fidelity. For more information, visit About Huntsman Cancer Foundation Huntsman Cancer Foundation's sole purpose is to raise funds to support the mission of Huntsman Cancer Institute: To understand cancer from its beginnings, to use that knowledge in the creation and improvement of cancer treatments, to relieve the suffering of cancer patients and to provide education about cancer risk, prevention and care. Huntsman Cancer Foundation is dedicated to ensuring excellence in these endeavors through the development and prudent stewardship of private resources. All HCI fundraising initiatives happen through Huntsman Cancer Foundation, which is a public, functionally integrated, Type 3 501 (c)(3). About Huntsman Cancer Institute Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. With a legacy of innovative cancer research, groundbreaking discoveries, and world-class patient care, we are transforming the way cancer is understood, prevented, diagnosed, treated, and survived. Huntsman Cancer Institute focuses on delivering the most advanced cancer healing and prevention through scientific breakthroughs and cutting-edge technology to create pioneering cancer treatments beyond the standard of care today. We have more than 325 open clinical trials and 276 research teams studying cancer. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at Huntsman Cancer Institute than at any other cancer center. Our scientists are world-renowned for understanding how cancer begins and using that knowledge to develop innovative approaches to treat each patient's unique disease. Huntsman Cancer Institute was founded by Jon M. and Karen Huntsman. View original content: SOURCE Sigma Chi International Fraternity
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sandy mom of six survives 15 years of blood cancer, helps other patients fight
SANDY, Utah () — A mom who fought, and won, a 15-year fight with blood cancer, created a nonprofit to ensure others battling cancer have a fighting chance, too. Jenny Ahlstrom, 57, was diagnosed with , a form of blood cancer, in 2010. Following her diagnosis, she was presented with a lot of options for treatment. 'It's really hard to figure out, as a patient, what to do,' Ahlstrom told ABC4. 'I was looking for strategies where I could get treated and not have to be treated for a long time.' A turning point in Ahlstrom's battle was receiving a known as CAR-T during clinical trials. The treatment, much like dialysis, included the removal of her blood cells, changing them in a lab, then infusing the cells back into her through an IV drip. 'Taking care of Jenny and taking care of her family… has just been remarkable,' Ahlstrom's doctor, Doug Sborov, said. 'Blessed and grateful': Teen survivor of West Valley murder-suicide graduates high school According to Sborov, an Associate Professor at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute, multiple myeloma is generally considered to be 'incurable.' However, with new research and medications, like CAR-T, physicians can drastically lengthen patients' lives and improve their quality of life. 'Here I am, three years later, completely disease free,' Ahlstrom said. 'She's provided patients an incredible opportunity to be educated. She's provided researchers, like myself, an incredible opportunity to engage with patients and really fundamentally change how we're approaching how we take care of these folks,' Sborov told ABC4. Jenny Ahlstrom raises awareness about available resources for blood cancer patients. (Courtesy Stacey Isaacs) Now, Ahlstrom leads a nonprofit called that raises awareness and increases access to vital data for researchers. 'If we're going to make advances in healthcare, we need to leapfrog forward in innovation,' Ahlstrom said. Ahlstrom says there are about 35,000 new diagnoses of myeloma every year and 150,000 living patients with myeloma. 'It's really amazing to bring these new types of therapy to these patients,' Ahlstrom said. 'It's available and it's here.' Trump to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley Sandy mom of six survives 15 years of blood cancer, helps other patients fight Orem woman allegedly blocks driver, causing 'significant congestion' during road rage incident RFK Jr. ends COVID shot recommendation for healthy kids, pregnant women President Trump appears to lose patience with Putin Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
IOL News
09-05-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Through the lens of love: a journey of healing amid cancer
After Anna's annual checkup, she had a panic attack. Each year, her 'scanxiety' fluctuates, but it's worst when she experiences symptoms she can't explain and fears they could signal a recurrence. Image: Rathkopf family I was at work when the call came. The woman on the line from my doctor's office asked if I had five minutes, then casually told me she was sorry but that I had cancer. I glanced out the window, watching people walk, talk and carry on as if it were just a normal day. But for me, everything had changed. At that moment, I felt like I was already dead. My husband, Jordan, and I had just started talking about having a second child. Now, suddenly, that future was gone. I was 37 years old, and I would soon learn that even if I survived the cancer, the treatment would leave me infertile. The day after my diagnosis - later confirmed as triple-positive breast cancer - Jordan and I picked up our cameras. Photography has always been part of our lives, but now it became something more: a shield, a way to cope without words. We documented everything - the sterile waiting rooms, the narrow hospital corridors and the quiet moments at home - capturing our new reality as it unfolded. But we never shared our images with each other. Anna and Jesse reflected in a mirror. Image: Rathkopf family Our cameras helped us express our inner lives while concealing our pain. It's hard to talk about the most painful parts of life. Sometimes, words fail and silence takes their place. That's when photography stepped in. The result is the photos you see with this story, as well as a book we published in October. I started taking self-portraits. As treatment progressed, I no longer recognized myself. The more fractured I felt, the more people told me I was strong, even beautiful. But inside, I mourned my fertility. Chemotherapy had damaged the eggs in my ovaries, while Tamoxifen (which I still take) put me into an early menopause. The combined treatments stripped me of my ability to give my then-3½-year-old son, Jesse, a sibling, and I felt betrayed by my body. The loss created a wedge between Jordan and me. He, too, had wanted another child, but as he learned more about my cancer's aggressive nature, an unspoken fear crept in - what if he had to raise our son alone? That fear, paired with my grief, deepened the divide between us. Anna's body bandaged with ice after her lumpectomy. When she woke up from her surgery, still in a daze, she noticed her surgeon's initials signed onto her chest right above the area where her tumor had been removed. Image: Rathkopf family Conversations turned into arguments, so we stopped having them. Silence became our default. We explored adoption and foster care, but the process felt overwhelming. As the reality of not having another child set in, the emotional distance between us grew. A 2018 study by researchers at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City found that young cancer survivors - ages 20 to 39 - 'were at an increased risk' of divorce and separation. 'The emotional and financial burdens of cancer may lead to marital stress for younger cancer survivors,' the researchers concluded. Infertility can add new layers of stress, tension and sometimes anger. Jordan and I experienced firsthand how illness can expose the deepest fractures in relationships - how emotional needs go unmet, not out of neglect but because neither partner knows how to reach the other through their pain. Anna's self-portrait as her chemotherapy treatments were beginning. She bought a variety of cheap wigs and never wore any of them except for portraits at home. Image: Rathkopf family
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Huntsman Cancer Institute breaks ground on new $400M Utah County cancer center
VINEYARD, Utah () — University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute broke ground on its second campus on Tuesday, celebrating how the $400 million project will improve access to care for Utah County cancer patients. Several hundreds of people attended the groundbreaking ceremony, with politicians, students, clinicians, scientists, and community members present. The event was held near the cancer center's new 19-acre site, situated in the Utah City community in Vineyard near Utah Lake. The new Utah County location will be approximately 272,000 square feet and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2028, according to the press release. The Huntsman Cancer Institute serves patients from Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana, as officials say it's 'the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mountain West.' Patients from the Utah County area visited the cancer center in Salt Lake County more than 40,000 times last year. Officials are anticipating more than 55,000 visits to the new facility annually, saying it will likely save patients over two hours of travel time per visit. 'By expanding access to cutting-edge cancer care and research, especially for patients in Utah's rural and frontier communities, we're delivering on our promise to improve lives across the state and beyond,' U of U President Taylor Randall said. Gov. Spencer Cox said this new campus is in response to Utah's growing communities and 'will enhance lifesaving insights and innovations that will transform health here at home and around the world.' The new center will not only improve access for patients, but will also increase collaboration with students and professionals at the University of Utah, Utah Valley University, and Brigham Young University. The institute currently has 250 research teams studying cancer and touts discovering more genes for inherited cancers than any other cancer center. The new center will make room for additional research and clinical trials while providing a range of cancer services to patients. 'At the University of Utah, the research isn't just part of our mission—it's the engine that drives transformative change,' Randall said. 'The new Huntsman Cancer Institute in Vineyard represents a bold step toward realizing a future where cancer will be a thing of the past.' The total cost of the project is budgeted for $400 million, but only about 75% of the funding has been secured so far. Contributors from the Huntsman Family Foundation, the State of Utah, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Flagship Companies, Woodbury Corporation, and several other companies, foundations, and families have donated to the new cancer center. Officials with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation said they are 'confident that their passionate community of donors will help complete the needed funding.' 'Huntsman Cancer Institute's vision in the new fields of research, such as DNA and immunotherapies, will help change cancer outcomes for a generation. Today, we make the investment that will shape the next generation of care and research and hopefully bring an end to cancer,' said Peter Huntsman, CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
02-04-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
Yunu Fosters Outstanding Innovation with NextGen Scientist Awards at Huntsman Cancer Institute Symposium
CARY, NORTH CAROLINA / ACCESS Newswire / April 2, 2025 / Yunu, creator of the industry's first end-to-end clinical trial imaging workflow platform supporting sites, CROs and pharma, was proud to sponsor the 2025 HCI Frontiers Symposium's NextGen Scientist Awards. This premier event, hosted by the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), occurred from February 17-19, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The symposium explored groundbreaking models in cancer care, screening, risk identification, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. As a pioneer in clinical trial imaging, Yunu is transforming the way pharmaceutical trial sponsors and cancer center sites conduct research. Yunu's mature and scalable cloud-based platform streamlines imaging workflows, enhances data accuracy, and accelerates decision-making in oncology trials, ensuring that promising treatments reach patients faster. Yunu's commitment to innovation directly supports the next generation of cancer therapies, making trials more accessible, efficient, and impactful. This year's award recipients, Abby Sartar and Mmadili Ilozumba, were selected for their significant contributions to advancing cancer research and care. Their pioneering work exemplifies the spirit of innovation that is shaping the future of patient-centered treatment. Dr. Abby Sartor's outstanding work examined how state legislation impacts access to biomarker testing for patients with gynecologic cancers. Her research brings insights into policy-driven disparities and opportunities for more equitable Mmadili Ilozumba's groundbreaking research focused on cancer disparities and treatment outcomes. Her work provides valuable insights that move us closer to addressing cancer treatment and survivorship inequities. The Huntsman Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, is renowned for its groundbreaking work in understanding cancer at its origins and developing targeted therapies that improve patient care. As one of Yunu's valued customers, Huntsman's dedication to innovation aligns closely with Yunu's mission to transform imaging in clinical trials with cutting edge technology, ensuring that breakthrough therapies are accessible to everyone. About Yunu: Yunu provides innovative imaging workflow and data management solutions designed to optimize clinical trial processes. By integrating advanced technologies, Yunu enables life sciences organizations to streamline imaging workflows, improve accuracy, and accelerate timelines. Yunu's platform supports clinical trials across various therapeutic areas, offering scalability and flexibility for organizations of all sizes. For more information, visit and follow us on LinkedIn or X @Yunu_Inc. Contact Information Lindsay Fleming Chief Marketing Officerpress@
