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5 For The Fight Fellowship Attracts New Talent

Read Time: 4 minutes

5 for the Fight logo

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

Today, , 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. 

鈥淚f 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,鈥 said Ryan Smith, co-founder and CEO, Qualtrics and 5 For The Fight. 鈥淭he 5 For The Fight Fellowship will help us hire more researchers to tackle the disease of our generation鈥 cancer.鈥

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. 

鈥淭he 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,鈥 said Mary Beckerle, Ph.D., CEO of Huntsman Cancer Institute. 鈥淭his 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.鈥

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:

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鈥檚 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鈥撯揷ustomer, 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鈩)鈥撯搕he beliefs, emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to do about it. The Qualtrics XM Platform鈩 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 .

Media Contact

Heather Simonsen
Public Affairs Senior Manager
Huntsman Cancer Institute
801 581-3194
public.affairs@hci.utah.edu

About Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the is the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center for Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming. With a legacy of innovative cancer research, groundbreaking discoveries, and world-class patient care, we are transforming the way cancer is understood, prevented, diagnosed, treated, and survived. Huntsman Cancer Institute focuses on delivering the most advanced cancer healing and prevention through scientific breakthroughs and cutting-edge technology to advance cancer treatments of the future beyond the standard of care today. We have more than 300 open clinical trials and 250 research teams studying cancer. More genes for inherited cancers have been discovered at Huntsman Cancer Institute than at any other cancer center. Our scientists are world-renowned for understanding how cancer begins and using that knowledge to develop innovative approaches to treat each patient鈥檚 unique disease. Huntsman Cancer Institute was founded by Jon M. and Karen Huntsman.

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