Kidney Cancer Association Announces Grants

Financial aid awards made for patient education meeting

(PRWEB) July 8, 2004 -- Kidney Cancer Association (KCA) Chief Executive Officer Bill Bro today announced special grants to attendees of the organization's Survivors and Patients Conference, July 23 and 24 in Chicago.

In making the awards, Bro said, "We are pleased that everyone who applied for financial aid this year received it. No one will be denied access to this important educational meeting because they could not afford it. The KCA was able to fund all requests received by the July 1, 2004, deadline."

Needs-based applications were evaluated by a social worker not affiliated with the Kidney Cancer Association, and funds were available to cover all expenses related to conference attendance, including airfare, hotel, and registration fees, as requested by the applicant.

"The Association is grateful for financial assistance from corporate supporters Genentech and Antigenics, whose generosity made these individual grants possible," Bro added. Ten applications for financial assistance were received and fully funded.

Invited speakers for the 12th annual conference include:

Patricia Delaney, Food & Drug Administration

Laura Schmidt, M.D., National Cancer Institute

Nicholas Vogelzang, M.D., Nevada Cancer Institute

Mihir Desai, M.D., Cleveland Clinic

Walter Stadler, M.D., University of Illinois Medical Center

Janice Dutcher, M.D., Our Lady of Mercy Cancer Center

Ronald Bukowski, M.D., KCA Medical Board Chair, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Kim Margolin, M.D., City of Hope

Co-chairs for the conference are Robert Flanigan, M.D., Joseph Clark, M.D., and Steven Campbell, M.D., all of Loyola University Medical Center.

Those interested in attending the conference may visit the KCA website, www.CureKidneyCancer.org, for more information. The meeting will be held at the O'Hare Hilton Hotel in Chicago.

There are approximately 200,000 adults living with renal cancer in the United States and more than 180,000 cases are diagnosed globally each year. The disease claims the lives of 12,000 Americans each year.

The KCA was founded in 1990 by the late Eugene P. Schonfeld, Ph.D., with the help of a small group of patients and their physician. It has grown to serve 60-thousand constituents in the United States and more than 90 other countries, and is the leading advocate for increased funding for research in renal cancer.

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