Today, February 4th is World Cancer Day. World Cancer Day was established by the Paris Charter adopted at the World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium in Paris on February 4, 2000. The goals of the charter are the promotion of research to cure as well as prevent the disease, upgrades to the provided services to the patients, the sensitization of the common opinion and the mobilization of the global community against cancer. 

Every family is impacted by cancer.  At the Harper Cancer Research Institute (HCRI), researchers from across the University of Notre Dame are dedicated to conducting innovative and integrative research that confronts the complex challenges of cancer. By forming effective interdisciplinary collaborations, investigator teams are using this novel insight to detect, understand and treat the many forms of the disease in new and previously unexplored ways. Young scientists (undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows) represent the next generation of cancer researchers and  work hand-in-hand with faculty to test fundamental questions and improve scientific discoveries. By continuous immersion in hands-on, real world cancer research, these trainees are fully equipped to become the future cancer research leaders.  Simply stated, HCRI is changing the way we fight cancer at Notre Dame and beyond.

Today is truly a global event uniting the world’s population in the fight against cancer. It aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease, pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action. Join us in the fight!

Originally published by Jenna Bilinski at harpercancer.nd.edu on February 04, 2016.