Author: Laurie Fenton Ambrose, GO2 for Lung Cancer CEO, President, and Co-Founder  

It seems like only yesterday that we raised a toast to 2023, and yet another year is rapidly winding down as we find ourselves preparing for a wonderful holiday season, surrounded by family and friends celebrating special moments together.   

As I catch my breath and reflect on this past year, I remain deeply grateful to our supporters who continue to put their faith and trust in us to serve thousands of people impacted by lung cancer every day and on every front, and to bring our community together to find strength, hope, and support from each other.    

Through this support, we can guide more newly diagnosed and people living with lung cancer to information about risks, where to be screened, how to get biomarker testing, what new treatments and care pathways are available, how to navigate a clinical trial, how to connect with a Phone Buddy like them, and so much more. We can host interactive Living Rooms, hold monthly Gathering HOPE virtual networking events, and welcome so many of you at our walk/runs and other community events.  

But your support also allowed us to accomplish so much more in 2023. During Lung Cancer Awareness Month, we helped facilities in all 50 states and four countries host a record 215 Shine a Light on Lung Cancer events. These Shine a Light gatherings brought together patients, survivors, caregivers, and providers to educate, connect, and celebrate the lung cancer community.  

We expanded our Centers of Excellence (COE) Network ensuring more access to high-quality and comprehensive care not only in big cities but also in rural and underserved communities. This network showcases how lung cancer screening, biomarker testing, and personalized treatments are being implemented in community settings in a high quality and standardized way. Our Centers of Excellence Network now stretches across the country. It includes facilities in 45 states and the District of Columbia—including six VA Medical Centers.  

Speaking of our veterans, we also extended our groundbreaking partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs to support military men and women at increased risk for lung cancer for an additional three-years. Through this Memorandum of Understanding we are able to provide educational and technical support and work together to help raise awareness about the higher risk of lung cancer among veterans and improve their access to screening via our COE network. We are proud to serve our veterans with the same dedication that they brought to serving our nation. 

On the policy front, we urged our elected leaders to support the Women and Lung Cancer Research & Preventive Services Act, a measure that would help address the unique and devastating impact that lung cancer has on women. For years we have known that the burden of lung cancer falls disproportionally higher on women, particularly among women ages 35–54. Our advocates fanned out across Capitol Hill to share their stories and urge Congress to pass this legislation that would bring increased research funding, improved access to screening and greater public awareness to the disease.  

Additionally, we also asked Congress to make federal research funding for lung cancer a priority. Thanks to our collective efforts over the last 15 years, we have secured another $25 million this past year that brings our total funding to over $225 million to date for the Department of Defense’s Lung Cancer Research Program. This is the largest lung cancer research program—public or private—outside of the National Institutes of Health.  

We also made great strides on the research front by advancing vital research working in collaboration with our medical consortia, the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute (ALCMI), and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This research study, called INHERIT, confirmed that there is an inherited risk for lung cancer. This study identified and characterized one specific inherited genetic mutation in the EGFR gene—an important building block in our quest to unlock the genetic origins of lung cancer. This sets the stage for our next round of research as we will again be collaborating with ALCMI and Dana Farber on a five-year multimillion-dollar study to identify more novel markers of genetic risk among families so we can understand the earliest inception of lung cancer and accelerate cures. 

These are just some of the 2023 highlights that will be carried forward in 2024. As we prepare for a new year to come, count on us to build on this momentum and continue serving our community in the most genuine, reliable, and trailblazing way as we seek new paths that pave the way to a cure. 

May your holiday be merry and bright.

With gratitude,

Laurie