Northwell Health Announces Sponsorship of Lustgarten Walks in NY Metro Area

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y., March 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Northwell Health Cancer Institute announced today that it will serve as the presenting sponsor for the five Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Research Walks in the New York metropolitan area. Northwell will team with the Lustgarten Foundation in supporting community walks to increase awareness of the disease and promote early detection, treatment advances and innovative research.

The shared goal is to cure pancreatic cancer, which has a five-year survival rate of only   nine percent. More than 56,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease this year nationally and almost 46,000 will people will die from it. 

The Lustgarten Walks offer patients, survivors and loved ones a day of hope, where everyone in the community can come together in the shared goal of raising awareness and funding for this incredibly challenging disease. The family-friendly walks, which include food, raffles and prizes from vendors, offer a sense of community to those who are battling this disease and a support system for survivors.

"With such low survival rates, there's a tremendous need to collaborate with experts in this oncology specialty," said Richard Barakat, M.D., physician-in-chief and director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, and senior vice president of the health system's Cancer Service Line. "We can only move toward a cure for pancreatic cancer with increased public awareness and collaboration on innovate research aimed at advancing more clinical trials for patients."

Northwell will sponsor the following walks:

• March 31, New York City– Pier 62-63 at Hudson River Park
• April 28, Westchester – Rye Playland Park
• July 21, Brooklyn – Marine Park at Carmine Carro Community Center
• September 8, Staten Island – Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk
• October 6, Long Island – Jones Beach State Park

"We are delighted to be partnering with Northwell Health for our walks in the New York metropolitan area," said Kerri Kaplan, president and CEO of the Lustgarten Foundation.  "Not only do our walks raise critical funds, but they provide an opportunity for the pancreatic cancer community to come together for a day of hope and inspiration."

David Tuveson, M.D., P.h.D., Lustgarten's chief scientist and the director of the Cancer Center and the Lustgarten Foundation Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), and his team are collaborating with Northwell physicians to create pancreatic cancer organoid models from patient tumors. Organoids, which were developed by the Lustgarten Foundation Laboratory at CSHL, are three-dimensional cell culture systems which reproduce a patient's tumor to test it repeatedly with different drugs. Northwell and CSHL have successfully completed their first organoid research study. The next step will be to enroll patients in a nationwide organoid clinical trial in which Northwell will participate and that will be funded by the Lustgarten Foundation.

The Northwell Health Cancer Institute is in the early stages of developing a comprehensive pancreatic cancer center. The program's major components will include surgical, radiation and medical oncology, interventional gastroenterology, pathology, radiology, endocrinology, palliative oncology, cancer genetics, nutritional counseling, social work and other services.

To register for any of the walks, visit: https://www.lustgarten.org/walk-for-research/ or call 866-789-1000.

To learn more about the Lustgarten walk program, view this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgkXT6mJPTI

About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State's largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, nearly 700 outpatient facilities and more than 13,600 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 68,000 employees – 16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.

About the Lustgarten Foundation
The Lustgarten Foundation is America's largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research. Based in Woodbury, N.Y., the Foundation supports research to find a cure for pancreatic cancer, facilitates dialogue within the medical and scientific community, and educates the public about the disease through awareness campaigns and fundraising events. Since its inception, the Lustgarten Foundation has directed $165 million to research and assembled the best scientific minds with the hope that one day, a cure can be found. Thanks to separate funding to support administrative expenses, 100% of every donation goes directly to pancreatic cancer research. For more information, visit www.lustgarten.org.

Contacts:
Betty Olt/Northwell
516-321-6709
[email protected]  

Vanessa Steil/Lustgarten
516-737-1566
[email protected]

SOURCE Northwell Health