Cancer is the dreaded term that no one wants to hear anytime.  It is a devastating disease, estimated to strike one in three women and one in two men in their lifetimes. This dreaded disease has impacted our lives either directly or indirectly.   I have lost several significant members of my family and friends to this awful disease over the past years.  As a result, I have made my life’s mission to fight this disease by doing whatever it takes.  Therefore, the past 3 decades of my academic and professional life was spent in doing scientific research and drug development efforts trying to combat cancer.  My academic journey to fight against cancer has started during my Ph.D. days in India and has taken me to Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo followed by Weizmann Institute of Sciences, Rehovot, Israel, eventually bringing me to DFCI, Harvard Medical School, Boston.  Currently at Takeda, I continue to work with my fellow colleagues in innovating and developing novel drugs to cure cancer.  Throughout my journey, I’ve met incredible scientists, doctors, patients, care givers, entrepreneurs, investors and many more who were all united by a focused singular goal of fighting this dreaded disease and finding a cure.  

It takes serious team effort trying to find cure to cancer.  Even with all the collaboration among scientists, pharma and government agencies, it is still a tall order conquering cancer.  Symbolizing the team work needed to complete the mission to beat cancer, a team of cancer researchers, survivors, entrepreneurs from academic, biotech and pharma background are climbing Mt. Everest Base Camp, with a mission to raise funds for cancer research supporting Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center. I am a part of this team and am climbing to raise vital funds for Fred Hutch’s lifesaving research. You can help by donating to my climb, which will accelerate the quest for cures.

On 25th of March 2022, members of the ‘Luke Timmerman’s Everest Base Camp Trekking Team’ will start the climb to cure cancer!  In this mission, I’ll take care of the easy part of training, trekking for two weeks in the Himalayas to reach the base camp (~18000 ft above sea level) and back.  But I do need your support in accomplishing the difficult part of raising much needed funds for cancer research to support Fred Hutch Cancer Center and its staff members as they make countless advances that have become the standard of cancer care and research.  The research and development efforts undertaken by Fred Hutch Cancer Center holds the promise of helping eradicate this disease which affects millions each year. 

Fred Hutch has made some of the world’s most important medical advances — from developing bone marrow transplantation as a cure for leukemia, to pioneering powerful therapies that harness the immune system to fight cancer, to leading national and international initiatives that enable earlier cancer diagnoses and more effective treatments. This leading-edge research depends on private contributions that fuel novel studies, which have the power to make a profound difference.

Please click the “Donate” button and give to the Climb to Fight Cancer. Any amount you can give makes a difference to people and families facing deadly diseases. Your gift is 100 percent tax deductible and will fund extraordinary research, lifesaving discoveries, and cures. Thank you for your support. If you prefer to write a check, please make it out to the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and mail it to me at 40 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 or to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Climb to Fight Cancer, 1100 Fairview Ave. N., J5-200, Seattle, WA  98109. Hurry, I’d like to complete our fundraising efforts as early as possible.

Any contribution you can make toward our Trek to Everest Base Camp Team’s goal of raising $1M for Fred Hutch Cancer Center to find a cure for cancer would be most gratefully appreciated. 

With our heartfelt thanks,

Kannan