Program areas at TCRF
In 2022, Tower funded one new senior investigator scientific Research grant to an esteemed researcher at city of hope researching a novel approach to elicit anti-tumor immunity against acute myeloid leukemia, a disease that patients often experience poor outcomes. Tower also funded two new career development scientific Research grants for two promising young physician scientists located at ucsd. Research areas focus on innovative therapies that may reveal a new paradigm for how (solid) tumors acquire resistance to therapy and a new therapeutic strategy to treat drug resistant cll and related blood cancers. In addition, Tower continued funding multi-year senior investigator grants. Total scientific grant expenditures in 2022 topped $1,100,000. Investing in novel ideas of young investigators and experienced senior investigators allows us to leverage our donor dollars to have maximum impact. In 2022 alone, tcrf researchers reported nearly $10m in fol-low-on funding, dozens of grants and academic awards, two groundbreaking scientific discoveries, and so much more.our clinically-grounded survivorship support programs, hosted by magnolia house, align with the challeng-es faced by patients, survivors, and the whole Cancer community. We provide integrative health and well-ness support and education, through free fitness, therapeutic, and holistic classes, that empowerpeople to develop a physical and emotional toolkit to meet the challenges of Cancer from diagnosis to survivorship. In 2022, Tower invested over $500,000 in survivorship programs. In 2013, magnolia house survivorship support program offered 20 classes and had 500 visits in the first year. In 2022, magnolia house offered over 1500 classes/services and received over 20,000 participant visits. In response to covid19, we continued offering classes online via zoom which has expanded the demographics in which we service and enabled us to increase our class capacities. Even with an increase in class capacities, many of our classes had a wait list which highlights both the quality in the programs we offer and the void that exists, especially with the isolation many Cancer patients continue to experience due to covid19. Partici-pants view magnolia house survivorship support program as a lifeline that provides not only enhanced quality of life but a community of friendship, encouragement, and comfort as well. One example that re-flects the impact of magnolia house is receiving multiple donations from one grateful magnolia house participant that has totaled over $100,000 in support of magnolia house. It is one of the largest gifts from a magnolia house participant since its inception. Tower's community partnership grant review committee is composed of expert volunteers who review applications in depth and then meet to discuss grant applications from Cancer support organizations across southern California. In 2022, we funded over $200,000 in community partner grants and continued to re-fine our review process to not only include improved methods of reviewing, but also revised the eligibility criteria to reflect a more targeted focus on funding organizations that support underserved and under re-sourced communities allowing us to extend our support to those most in need of care.