Sanford-Burnham’s NCI-Designated Cancer Center and the Cancer Center’s Community Advisory Board hosted the second Cancer Center open house for cancer survivors, their families and friends, and research advocates on Thursday, November 6, in La Jolla, Calif.
The open house, titled “The Science Behind Melanoma,” was centered on revealing the latest discoveries and breakthroughs on the deadly skin disease coming out of the Center’s laboratories. More than 60 guests attended the late-afternoon event, which began with a brief welcome and overview of the fight against melanoma by Randy Lomax, Chair Emeritus of the Melanoma Research Foundation and President/CEO of The MRF Breakthrough Consortium. Garth Powis, D.Phil, professor and director of the NCI-Designated Cancer Center at Sanford-Burnham, and Ze’ev Ronai, PhD, scientific director at Sanford-Burnham at La Jolla, also spoke, enlightening the audience with exclusive details of the melanoma discoveries originating in their laboratories.
Once remarks concluded, guests were invited to Chairmen’s Hall for an opportunity to speak directly with cancer scientists at an informal reception, as well as join a series of guided tours highlighting Sanford-Burnham’s varied approaches to cancer research. Attendees also enjoyed the opportunity to mingle and chat with graduate students, postdocs, staff researchers, and principal investigators about their latest cancer research advances in a relaxed and informal environment, as they waited for tours to begin, which departed every 10 to 15 minutes. Each tour was offered multiple times, thereby ensuring guests the opportunity to join the tour, or tours, of their choice at their leisure.
Three separate guided tours were offered to attendees; each focused on specific areas of cancer research at Sanford-Burnham. Topics included: “From Basic Research to Future Treatments,” “How Cancer Drugs are Discovered,” and “Hitting Cancer Cells Where it Hurts: Targeted Delivery of Drugs.” It was a remarkable evening that once again provided our local community a peek behind Sanford-Burnham’s NCI-Designated Cancer Center’s doors.
Following the success of the second event, another open house is being planned for spring of 2015. If you are interested in attending, please contact Karolyn Baker at KBaker@sanfordburnham.org or (858)795-5239.
