For the fourth consecutive year, Hoosier Cancer Research Network chairman Christopher A. Fausel, PharmD, is encouraging his friends, colleagues, and local businesses to support HCRN through a unique challenge event.

Fausel competes each year in the Arnold Sports Festival Pump & Run 5K in Columbus, Ohio, a combination event that includes bench-pressing and a 5K run. A dedicated fitness enthusiast, Fausel is passionate about advancing cancer research, and is inviting pledges in support of HCRN for every bench press “rep” he completes (maximum of 30) during the event on Sunday, March 4, 2018.

Donations received will directly support investigator-initiated research, which is central to HCRN’s vision and mission.

Here’s how it works:

• Step 1: Make your pledge before Friday, March 2, using this form. You can pledge a dollar amount for every bench press rep that Fausel completes, or you can pledge a specific total amount.
• Step 2: Following the event, HCRN will send you an email notification to let you know how Fausel did. The email will include a link to a secure online donation form on the HCRN website and a mailing address, if you prefer to send a check. Donations will come directly to HCRN and will be acknowledged by HCRN.

Fausel created Reps for Research in 2015 as a way to raise awareness and support for investigator-initiated studies. Since then, the annual challenge has raised more than $8,000. This funding helps HCRN investigators continue exploring critical questions that are often not answered in the course of a study. For example, investigators want to know why certain patients respond to therapies and others do not. They want to know if there are certain characteristics that can predict who would likely respond to a certain therapy. Knowing the answers to these, and many other, questions leads to smarter decisions that benefit all patients with cancer.

For Fausel, giving back to HCRN is a way to honor the patients he sees every day as clinical manager of oncology pharmacy at the IU Simon Cancer Center.

“These patients are facing their fight with cancer with uncommon strength and courage,” Fausel said. “It’s a privilege to compete in their honor.”

About Hoosier Cancer Research Network:

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has conducted more than 180 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 350 publications. More than 7,500 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.