Benefactors

Private funding helps cancer researchers find new breakthroughs
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Private support from donors like the Andrews is vitally needed to advance research. Cancer is the nation's second leading killer, exceeded only by heart disease. This year more than 550,000 people are expected to die from cancer - about 1,500 people every day. All this from a disease you can't catch from another person and whose cause, in many cases, remains a mystery.

And yet, only one penny of every $10 paid in taxes goes to cancer research, according to statistics from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.

Nevertheless, research is the key to finding better treatments and improving the survival of people with cancer.

Privately funded endowments such as the one Andrews hopes to establish give scientists more time to spend on creative, breakthrough research. Endowments also help institutions like UC Davis recruit new talent.

"Endowments free researchers from having to write grants for money, and give them a great deal of latitude in being able to do innovative projects they wouldn't otherwise be able to do," said Neil, who knows a bit about grant-writing from his own days doing clinical research.

"You always hope they'll find a cure for cancer," adds Carla. "They're getting closer and closer every year."

Gifts from donors like the Andrews will help make that goal a reality.

To learn more about the various ways to make a gift to UC Davis Cancer
Center while receiving tax advantages, call Eileen Hamilton at (916) 734-9418.