ThyCa Expands Grant Awards: Announces Two 2005 Grants for Thyroid Cancer Research

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is pleased to announce the expansion of its research grant program with the awarding of two 2-year grants, including ThyCa’s first-ever grant for research on medullary thyroid cancer. ThyCa awarded its first and second research grants in 2003 and 2004.

The recipient of ThyCa’s first-ever Medullary Thyroid Cancer Research Grant is Matthias Schott, M.D. of the Heinrich-Heine University of Duesseldorf in Duesseldorf, Germany. Dr. Schott’s medullary thyroid cancer research proposal is “Induction of Cytotoxic Immunity in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma by Dendridic Vaccination.”

The recipient of the Thyroid Cancer Research Grant is Erich M. Sturgis, M.D., of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Sturgis’s research proposal is titled” Radiation Response Genotype and Risk of Papillary Thyroid Cancer: A Case-Control Study.”

Both grant recipients will receive a second year of funding pending status reports.

ThyCa’s grants are open to all researchers and institutions worldwide. The grant review and selection process was based on proposals’ scientific merit and was conducted by the scientific review panel of the American Thyroid Association (ATA), the professional association of clinicians and researchers involved in thyroid diseases. The grant fundraising was conducted by the volunteers of ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. through its campaign for thyroid cancer research.

Gary Bloom, ThyCa Board Chair, said, “ThyCa is proud to expand ThyCa’s grant award program. We greatly appreciate the volunteer efforts involved in this important effort. We thank the American Thyroid Association for its wonderful support and its members’ commitment to the well-being of thyroid cancer patients.”

“ We are excited by the announcement of these new research grants, and wish to thank the many volunteers and donors for their loving and generous support of our research fundraising. This wonderful announcement brings us one step closer to finding cures for all thyroid cancer and a future free of thyroid cancer,” said Joni Eskenazi, ThyCa Board Member and Fundraising Chair. ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is an all- volunteer, non- profit 501(c)(3) organization of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health care professionals, dedicated to support, education, and communication, as well as awareness for early detection, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants.

ThyCa also sponsors Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, and its annual international conference will be held this year on October 21-23, 2005, in Denver, Colorado.

For more information, call ThyCa at 1-877-588-7904, fax to 630-604-6078, send e-mail to thyca@thyca.org or visit www.thyca.org.