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Clara’s Story
Clara Salas has always been an independent working woman, dedicated to taking care of her 4 children. She’s also a single mom. Then, two years ago she received a devastating blow.
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Press Materials
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IMPACT News
Get the latest news on the Lazarex Cancer Foundation IMPACT program here.
IMPACT NEWS
Improving Patient Access to Cancer Clinical Trials
IMPACT is a multi year nationwide program to increase cancer clinical trial enrollment, retention, minority participation and equitable access – getting cancer drugs to market faster and finishing oncology clinical trials on time and on budget.
Clinical trials are the vehicle the FDA uses to bring new drugs to market safely. Patient participation is crucial to the successful completion of a trial, yet the barriers to trial participation – primarily ancillary costs – lie squarely on the shoulders of patients. Over the past 15 years, Lazarex has developed successful programs to address and remove these barriers. Currently, Lazarex stands alone in offering a complete solution to this problem and while this is a noble undertaking it is not a sustainable one.
In 2013 Lazarex and the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Care Equity Program joined forces to establish a pilot program focused on removing financial barriers to clinical trial participation for cancer patients and improving access to cancer clinical trials for under-served populations. Based on the success, we have greatly expanded the pilot into a nationwide effort – IMPACT – IMproving Patient Access to Cancer Clinical Trials. IMPACT brings together the significant resources of industry stakeholders: academia, medicine, policy makers, industry, public health and community organizations nationwide.
The IMPACT program facilitates a coordinated effort amongst these stakeholders to create a replicable, “boots on the ground” action plan, bringing significant and sustainable change to the status quo of clinical trial recruitment, retention, minority participation, completion, and translational science – providing equitable and timely patient access to cancer discovery.
Download the Program Policy Summary
Thank You to our IMPACT Collaborators
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Impact Founding Sponsor
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Sponsors
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IMPACT Institutions
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Progress – Our Efforts are Realizing Results
< Timeline >
November 18, 2020
Podcast: Democratizing Clinical Trials with Dana Dornsife of Lazarex Cancer Foundation – In the development of the foundation, Dana realized the large racial gap that exists in clinical trials, so we discuss that and how her foundation is trying to close it. We also discuss her inspiration for starting the foundation and the federal regulations she had to overcome in order to help the economically disadvantaged.
April 9, 2020
KTVU’s Claudine Wong in conversation with UCSF’s Dr. Hala Borno, Dana Dornsife and Lazarex Cancer Foundation VIP (Very Important Patient) Becky Stephens on the new rules of engagement regarding how we conduct cancer clinical trials in the face of COVID-19 and what it could mean for patients moving forward.
March 11, 2020
Among the flurry of bills signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers last week, one that didn’t get much attention stands to help cancer patients and their families throughout Wisconsin. The bill, SB 489, passed on voice votes in both the Assembly and Senate with full bipartisan support, addresses economic barriers faced by cancer patients to participate in life-sustaining clinical trials.
February 26, 2020
Lazarex Cancer Foundation and Perthera unite to advance Clinical Trial Access and Enrollment for Cancer Patients. They will be focused on matching and enrolling patients in clinical trials through Lazarex IMPACT and CARE programs, by utilizing Perthera’s treatment-matching Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and other elements of the Perthera Platform to advance precision medicine for cancer patients.
February 26,2020
The Ritz Herald: Illinois Lawmakers announce a new law that will help thousands of cancer patients in the state. SB1711, the Clinical Trial Participation Act gives all Illinois cancer patients new hope by providing access to potentially life-saving breakthrough medical advancements in clinical trials.
February 24, 2020
Major Victory For Cancer Patients In Illinois: Illinois Lawmakers announce a new law that will help thousands of cancer patients in the state. SB1711, the Clinical Trial Participation Act gives all Illinois cancer patients new hope by providing access to potentially life-saving breakthrough medical advancements in clinical trials.
February 24, 2020
NBC 5 Chicago: Clinical trials can save the lives of cancer patients, but studies show minorities and the poor often don’t participate, because they simply can’t afford to. Parking costs and travel expenses add up, but a new law in Illinois allows patients to get reimbursed for those expenses. Includes interview with Lazarex Cancer Foundation’s Dana Dornsife.
February 24, 2020
WTTW PBS Chicago Tonight interview with Dana Dornsife, Founder of Lazarex Cancer Foundation; Dr. Leon Platanias, Director of the Northwestern University Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Theresa Staten, who has been participating in a clinical drug trial with assistance from Lazarex Cancer Foundation, about The Cancer Clinical Trial Participation Act, Senate Bill 1711, recently signed into law.
February 24, 2020
Chicago Tribune: New law will provide Illinois cancer patients funds to attend clinical trials: The Clinical Trial Participation Act was formally announced Wednesday. The legislation, which was signed Dec. 20, aims to increase participation in clinical trials by removing primary barriers for patients, a big one being finances.
February 5, 2020
All men are not created equal in the world of cancer. That is one message from Hala Borno, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist focusing on genitourinary malignancies at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. “I have a research interest in addressing disparities, the reflection of differences that lead to inequity,” she told Oncology Times.
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October 30, 2019
Lazarex is featured on PBS Newshour: U.S. racial and ethnic diversity is ever increasing, but the medical representation of minority groups is not. A recent review of government-funded cancer research studies found that participants were disproportionately white, and fewer than 2 percent of these clinical trials focused on minorities specifically.
October 9, 2019
“Lazarex stepped into the breach and recognized the big barriers — transportation and navigating the complexity of trials,” said Jonathan Jackson, founding director of Mass General’s center for research on trial diversity and inclusion. Lazarex “made it much easier for people to sign up and stick with a trial, and it helped marginalized populations.”
September 5, 2019
Lifting Barriers to Improve Minority Participation in Cancer Research: The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) recently announced its collaboration with the nonprofit Lazarex Cancer Foundation to initiate a 3-year study that will address barriers and find solutions to disparities in cancer clinical trials, particularly in regard to disparities related to participation of low-income populations and racial/ethnic minorities.
August 27, 2019
Lazarex VIP (Very Important Patient) Charmaine Sarpong and Founder Dana Dornsife speak with Fox 4 Dallas reporter Dionne Anglin about the legislation in Texas that is effective 9/1 and will help 10’s of thousands of the state’s cancer patients gain access to clinical trials. Texas is only the THIRD state (following CA and PA) to pass this law.
June 10, 2019
Dr. Hala Borno on Addressing Disparities in Access to Prostate Cancer Care – Cancer Network spoke with Hala Borno, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, about addressing the disparities in access to clinical trials and treatments for patients with prostate cancer
May 24, 2019
Drexel University is partnering with the Lazarex Cancer Foundation to establish Community IMPACT, a program that will focus on reducing cancer and improving health outcomes in Philadelphia. “We are committed to building healthy communities and giving voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless
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October 17, 2018
Two major victories for cancer patients nationwide as bills promoting equal access to cancer trials become law: Congress and the state of Pennsylvania approve language aimed at increasing access among underserved communities. The inclusion of the language follows an intensive effort by Lazarex Cancer Foundation with members of congress and Pennsylvania state officials to bring this problem forward.
September 13, 2018
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today issued a set of recommendations for overcoming financial barriers to patient participation in cancer clinical trials. ASCO would like to thank the Lazarex Cancer Foundation for funding the ASCO Roundtable on Addressing Financial Barriers to Clinical Trials Participation in 2017, which contributed to the development of this statement.
August 13, 2018
Massachusetts considers bill aimed at improving patient reimbursement for clinical trial expenses. Massachusetts is one of several states—including Texas, Pennsylvania and Florida—considering such legislation backed by California-based Lazerex Cancer Foundation to improve the ability of patients to enroll and remain enrolled in clinical trials. California passed a similar law in 2016.
January 25, 2018
The FDA issued revised guidance about reimbursement to clinical trial participants. The new guidance includes the following critical language and paves the way for industry funding for reimbursement of patient travel expenses: “FDA does not consider reimbursement for travel expenses to and from the clinical trial site and associated costs such as airfare, parking, and lodging to raise issues regarding undue influence.”
January 2018
We initiate IMPACT CA with institutional partners UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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December 2017
AMGEN signs on as the IMPACT Founding Sponsor with a $2 million grant to launch the IMPACT program.
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