The LUNGevity Foundation is the only organization in the United States exclusively dedicated to funding lung cancer research. By partnering with volunteers across the country, LUNGevity has grown into the nation's largest funder of lung cancer research.
LUNGevity moves forward firmly resolved to provide the energy, inspiration, and resources that are critical to making lung cancer a national priority. Our goal is to Stop Lung Cancer Now.
In June of 2010, two leading nonprofit organizations joined forces to become one of the largest private funders of lung cancer research and the largest national lung cancer grassroots organization dedicated to ending lung cancer now. The merger of LUNGevity Foundation, based in Chicago, Illinois, and Protect Your Lungs, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, represents a milestone in the fight against lung cancer. We chose to adopt the LUNGevity name.
Together, we share a world-class Science Advisory Board, comprised of top researchers and clinicians in the lung cancer domain. Together, we have the largest national events program dedicated to providing funding for lung cancer research, a population comprised of tens of thousands of supporters from coast to coast. And together, we are the only lung cancer organization run by business people who use strategic planning to grow the foundation in deliberate, effective, and visible ways. Our combined force gives us the structure, resources, and national reach that are necessary to truly make a difference in saving lives that would otherwise be lost to lung cancer.
LUNGevity Foundation was founded by seven Chicago-area lung cancer survivors (one of whom survives today) in November, 2000, to increase funding for lung cancer research. Upon being diagnosed, these individuals learned that tremendous progress had been made in detecting and treating many of the deadliest cancers over the last two decades, but little progress had been made to save the lives of individuals diagnosed with lung cancer. This slow progress was due, in great part, to a lack of funding for lung cancer research. While funding for breast, prostate and colorectal cancer research had grown exponentially over the years, there had been no corresponding growth for lung cancer research.
Since its inception, LUNGevity has co-funded more than $8 million in innovative lung cancer research projects with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Thoracic Society, The CHEST Foundation, and other granting partners. In 2009, LUNGevity was named the fastest growing charity in the United States by Charity Navigator.
Protect Your Lungs was founded in December of 2008, after the Stern family of Potomac, Maryland, witnessed first-hand the devastation of a late lung cancer diagnosis. Patricia Stern, a beloved wife, mother and grandmother succumbed to lung cancer after a long 21-month battle with the disease. Like so many lung cancer patients, she was not diagnosed until the cancer had progressed to Stage IV and it was too late for a cure. Because she stopped smoking 16 years prior, the family mistakenly believed that she was not at risk for lung cancer. The Stern family emerged from losing Patricia determined to fund research that ultimately creates an effective early detection protocol so that others can find lung cancer, treat it and live. They created Protect Your Lungs, established a prestigious medical advisory board, and developed a rigorous peer reviewed research funding process aimed at identifying and funding critical research that could lead to breakthroughs in early identification of lung cancer and targeted therapies. Their adherence to rigorous standards and determination to find and fund science that will make a difference in the fight against lung cancer made them an ideal partner for LUNGevity foundation.
Together, the new LUNGevity moves forward firmly resolved to provide the energy, inspiration, and resources that are critical to making lung cancer a national priority. Our goal is to Stop Lung Cancer Now.
