Norfolk, Va. - The art that hangs on the walls at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital reveal the struggle of childhood cancer.
This child wrote "T stands for the tears we cry when we lose someone we love, like someone I knew."
There are fewer tears these days at St. Jude because research is saving lives, more lives than ever before.
“The field is just accelerating at a ridiculous rate,” says Dr. Zachary Faber, PhD Cancer Genome Project.
He is geeked with excitement over the cancer genome project at St. Jude.
“It's really moving forward. We're moving into phase two now the first phase was coding genes.
To put it simply, in order to fight a disease like cancer, you have to understand it. So what researchers are looking for are the genetic changes in the cancer that are different from the normal and how they can specifically target those to fight the cancer.
“We are getting better and better at being able to look at these lists and pick out what's important right away, then we go and design experiments to test each one of those,” says Dr. Faber.
The research is getting results, but funding is key to finding a cure.
“Getting science funding from the government is getting a little bit harder, but it's those donations that allow us to really focus on what we do best and that is curing childhood cancer,” says Dr. Faber.
Click here for details on this year's St. Jude Dreamhome giveaway.
