Swim Across America's Impact

For two decades, Swim Across America has granted nearly $6 million to the UCSF Swim Across America Research Lab and the UCSF Swim Across America Survivors of Childhood Cancer Program to fund pediatric cancer research and survivorship.

Raising funds for pediatric cancer research can be extremely difficult, which is why these funds raised through Swim Across America have literally kept UCSF's cancer research going and helped scientists find new cures for children diagnosed with cancer.

 

Thanks to Swim Across America, UCSF researchers have been able to:

  • Maintain a dedicated and highly skilled staff of scientists steadily moving cancer research projects forward despite the ups and downs of grant funding.
  • Pioneer a new treatment strategy for a deadly childhood cancer called neuroblastoma by specifically targeting a cancer-causing gene that drives tumor growth.
  • Nurture and educate young investigators who will advance efforts to improve care for young people with cancer and hopefully eradicate the disease once and for all.
  • Take the long view, diving deep into complex mechanisms that take time and persistence to unravel but are critical to understanding the cancer cell.
  • Expand the survivorship program to serve 2,000 patients and develop an app to enhance the long-term follow-up care for all survivors of cancer.
  • Offer hundreds of clinical trials to patients looking for answers and better therapies through clinical research endeavors.
  • Move closer to our goal of curing all childhood cancer, so that this terrible disease becomes a thing of the past.