December 19, 2016
 
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS

As we conclude 2016 and head into 2017, we want to highlight some very promising and exciting news in the field of cancer research and treatment. If 2016 is an indication of the direction we are going, 2017 promises to be even more transformative.

ACGT Fellow Recognized by Time Magazine
  
Time Magazine's year-end "Person of the Year" special issue features the scientists behind CRISPR, including immunologist Dr. Carl June from the University of Pennsylvania, a 2004 and 2008 ACGT grant recipient and member of our prestigious Scientific Advisory Council. The CRISPR scientists were recognized for their remarkable work deleting damaged or mutated genes from an individual genome to eradicate disease. This amazing medical breakthrough, as described in  ACGT's blog , may prove the end to cancer.   

Congress Passes Historical Funding Act

Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century Cures Act to ensure $4.8 billion in new funding for biomedical research. President Obama signed the bill into law last week. $1.8 billion has been designated for the Cancer Moonshot program, to be allocated over seven years, with the balance earmarked for other precision medicine initiatives. ACGT participated in the  Rally for Medical Research that pressed for this major funding legislation. Learn more.
    
Show Your Support This Holiday Season
 
Please make your year-end gift today and support breakthrough cancer treatments. ACGT is the only philanthropic organization in the country dedicated exclusively to cell and gene therapies for cancer. Support innovative, life-saving research.

Most Disruptive Innovation of the Year

BioPharma Dive, a media website devoted to biotech and pharmaceutical news, bestowed its annual Dive awards last week. Their "Most Disruptive Innovation of the Year" award went to   CAR-T therapy for its potential as a new drug class to fight cancer. CAR-T, also explained recently in  ACGT's blog on new frontiers in cancer therapies, has been particularly successful in human trials with leukemia and lymphomas. See the full list of Dive awards.
"Each of the gene-modified CAR-T cells transfused into a patient can be responsible for killing more than a 1000 tumor cells - there's no precedent for cells becoming a living drug that divides in the body so the body becomes a bioreactor."
  
Dr. Carl June, University of Pennsylvania, ACGT Scientific Advisory Council member, in response to an award for his work with CAR-T therapy from Onclive , an oncology media site.

IN THE MAIL


ACGT's 2016 Progress Report highlights a remarkable year of progress for molecular medicine and cancer cell and gene therapy. If for any reason you did not receive your copy, read the full report here .
ACGT is the only non-profit organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to funding  cell and gene therapies for cancer. Since its founding in 2001, ACGT has awarded  52 gr ants totaling more than $26 million in North America, and continues to be a catalyst for cell and gene therapy research.
 
100% of all donations are used to support ACGT research grants and studies in cell and gene therapies for cancer.

Share our hope and share our dedication to more effective ways of targeting cancer .
Please forward this email to anyone whose life has been touched by cancer. 
 
Keep posted on progress at www.acgtfoundation.org, on Facebook and Twitter.