2017 Grant Recipients and Pancreatic Cancer Survivor Featured on KATU-TV in Portland, Ore.

Last month, our organization awarded 17 grants to 21 researchers at 12 institutions across the country through our competitive peer-reviewed Research Grants Program, which continues to make a significant impact in the field.

Left: Brett Sheppard, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University. Right: Rosalie Sears, PhD, of Oregon Health & Science University

Brett Sheppard, MD, and co-principal investigator Rosalie Sears, PhD, of Oregon Health & Science University, were awarded the 2017 Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Early Detection Targeted Grant for their research project: Blood-based and Imaging Biomarkers of PDAC in New-onset Diabetics. The $250,000 grant will support the development and validation of an early detection method that can be used in conjunction with standard screening methods to detect pancreatic cancer when it is at an earlier, more treatable stage.

KATU-TV in Portland, Ore., recently spoke to Drs. Sheppard and Sears, who is also a member of our Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, to talk more about their research and what their findings could potentially do for the pancreatic cancer community.

Yvette Baker and her family after PurpleStride Portland in 2013

Yvette Baker, a patient of Dr. Sheppard’s, joined the interview to share her experience as a five-year pancreatic cancer survivor. Baker’s tumor was found early, and her story is a testament to how early detection can vastly improve outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients.

Pancreatic cancer is the nation’s toughest cancer with a five-year survival rate of just 9 percent, but there is hope.

In collaboration with our generous donors, we are accelerating research progress by focusing on innovative approaches to devise early detection methods, as well as to understand the biology and discover new and more effective treatment options, so that we can improve outcomes for all pancreatic cancer patients.

Please visit pancan.org/2020 to help us double survival and raise $200 million by 2020.