Meet the Challenge Campaign
Answer the Call to "Meet the Challenge" in Supporting Colon and Rectal Disease Research
Your Generosity Makes It All Possible
What is the Meet the Challenge Campaign?
The Meet the Challenge Campaign – held during the ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting – challenges meeting attendees to donate to the Research Foundation of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons to support colorectal research and the future of the specialty. The primary mission of the Research Foundation is to raise and award funds to support research and education programs related to colon and rectal disease. Your donation directly supports Career Development Awards, Limited Project Grants, Medical Student and General Surgery Resident Research Initiation Grants, the International Fellowship, and the Norman D. Nigro Research Lectureship.
You can donate by clicking here or clicking “DONATE” at the top right of the ASCRS website to make your gift instantly. For more information, please email [email protected] and a member of the staff will respond. Donations to support the Meet the Challenge Campaign and Research Foundation Fund are welcome at any time.
Grants awarded by the Research Foundation have touched the lives of students and general surgery residents who are considering colorectal surgery as a career, colorectal surgeons who want to further their research knowledge, and, in the long run, patients who benefit from the focus on research. Below are examples of how the ASCRS Research Foundation grants have helped recipients to grow in the profession of colorectal surgery.
“I am extremely grateful to the Research Foundation for this critical early support in my career development. With this initial support, I was able to lay the groundwork for a successful five-year K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), which will ensure I have appropriate funding support for academic development until 2020. It also allowed me to provide matching funds for the NIA GEMSSTAR/Jahnigen Scholars Program, which I was awarded shortly thereafter. I surely would not have been as competitive for this award without The Research Foundation support. As a result of this award, I will be able to generate a long line of research into understanding the clinical underpinnings of efficient care around colectomy. And it has provided a platform for mentoring residents and students in numerous projects.”
Scott Regenbogen, MD, MPH, University of Michigan, a 2014 Career Development Grant awardee for the study, “Enhanced Recovery Protocols and the cost and quality of colectomy in Michigan.”
“I am grateful to have been a beneficiary of the ASCRS Research Foundation. It supported me through a Career Development Award which provided the resources and support as I started my early research career. Using this mechanism, I was able to study the genetics of rectal cancer, using technology which may not have been otherwise afforded. Both the mentored training and the information learned from this project have allowed me to advance my career through publications, presentations, and developing preliminary data for future projects and funding, including an R01 grant from the NCI. The CDA was an essential part of my maturity as a researcher, and I am deeply thankful. I continue to run a funded translational science lab in my current position at Ohio State University.”
Matthew F. Kalady, MD, Cleveland Clinic, a 2007 awardee for the study “Predictive Genetic Profiling of Early Stage Rectal Cancer.”
The Research Foundation is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, tax ID number: 87-6123876. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Please confer with your financial advisor if you have questions regarding the deductibility of this contribution on your personal tax return. The Research Foundation verifies that no goods or services were exchanged for this contribution.