5 For The Fight Launches Fellowship Program at Huntsman Cancer Institute to Attract New Talent to the Fight Against Cancer

The new fellowship program will sponsor nine Huntsman Cancer Institute researchers in their work to understand and eradicate the devastating disease 

SALT LAKE CITY, May 05 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Today, 5 For The Fight, a global movement inviting everyone to give $5 for the fight against cancer, 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.

About 5 For The Fight:

5 For The Fight, a Qualtrics-led nonprofit, is a global campaign inviting everyone to donate $5 to the fight against cancer. Each donation is made in honor of someone who is battling or has been touched by the disease. To date, 5 For The Fight has raised more than $25 million to help eradicate cancer, with one hundred percent of those funds donated directly to the world’s leading cancer researchers. 5 For The Fight is featured on the Utah Jazz jersey patch and is the only cause-related jersey patch in the NBA. To join the fight, please visit 5forthefight.org.

About Qualtrics

Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, is changing the way organizations manage and improve the four core experiences of business––customer, employee, product, and brand. Over 11,000 organizations around the world are using Qualtrics to listen, understand, and take action on experience data (X-data™)––the beliefs, emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to do about it. The Qualtrics XM Platform™ is a system of action that helps businesses attract customers who stay longer and buy more, engage employees who build a positive culture, develop breakthrough products people love, and build a brand people are passionate about. To learn more, please visit qualtrics.com.

About Huntsman Cancer Institute

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah is the official cancer center of Utah. The cancer campus includes a state-of-the-art cancer specialty hospital as well as two buildings dedicated to cancer research. HCI treats patients with all forms of cancer and is recognized among the highest-performing cancer hospitals in the country by U.S. News and World Report. As the only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Mountain West, HCI serves the largest geographic region in the country, drawing patients from Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at HCI than at any other cancer center in the world, including genes responsible for hereditary breast, ovarian, colon, head, and neck cancers, along with melanoma. HCI manages the Utah Population Database, the largest genetic database in the world, with information on more than 11 million people linked to genealogies, health records, and vital statistics. HCI was founded by Jon M. and Karen Huntsman.

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