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As this year comes to a close, we're reflecting back on just what an incredible year 2016 has been for the Emily Whitehead Foundation.

  • In January, Tom, Kari, and Emily had the honor of being present for the launch of Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Initiative at the Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center.
  • In February, the local Takedown Cancer high school wrestling match was one of our biggest events of the year! The event will be held again this year on February 2nd, 2017. [P.O. vs. Clearfield Wrestling Dual Meet — 2nd Annual Takedown Cancer Event]
  • In April, Tom, Kari, and Emily attended the launch of another incredible initiative - the Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy where Emily spoke on stage for the first time! (Read more about this visit, here).
  • May is a very special month for us as we celebrated Emily's 11th birthday and 4-years cancer free anniversary [Celebrating 4-Years Cancer Free!]. Additionally, the foundation had a team of runners at the Pittsburgh Marathon for the first time! It was so much fun that we are returning in 2017 — see our event page for information on how to sign-up! [Pittsburgh Marathon 2017].
  • The summer months were spent preparing for our second annual Tee Off for T-cells golf tournament, which took place on July 15. Hosted again by Jon Condo, the event was a great success. (Read more about this event, here).
  • September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and we launched a campaign inviting our supporters to Join the Village.
  • November kept us on our feet with two running events: the Blood, Sweat and Tears 5-miler and Philadelphia Marathon.
  • We also supported our friends at Gabrielle's Angel Foundation and attended the Angel Ball on November 21, where Emily spoke for the second time!

We could not have accomplished all that we did this year without the support of our many friends and supporters. With the money raised we were able to provide a $100,000 grant to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) so that Dr. Stephan Grupp and his team can continue researching and providing T-cell therapy to children who have resistant forms of leukemia. These are children who, like Emily, would not have survived without this groundbreaking treatment.

Thank you to the following who invited Tom, Kari, and Emily to share their story, raise awareness for pediatric cancer, and advocate for more research funding!

  • American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) - Cancer Precision Medicine, Immune-Oncology 360, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) Annual Dinner, UPS Healthcare Conference, CAR-TCR Summit, TerumoBCT, Celgene, VWR, GE Healthcare

Your support inspires us and makes it possible for us to continue fighting childhood cancer! We look forward to 2017!