Emmy Winner Uzo Aduba, Stand Up To Cancer And Count Me In Join Forces For New PSA Campaign To Encourage Cancer Patients To Share Their Voices

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stand Up To Cancer^® (SU2C), Count Me In, and SU2C Ambassador and Emmy^® Award and SAG Award winning actress, Uzo Aduba have teamed up for a new public service announcement (PSA) to educate and encourage all cancer patients to opt-in to sharing their unique experiences and health information to help accelerate the pace of cancer research and propel new discoveries.

The campaign will encourage patients to share their clinical information, samples, and voices. This information can play an important role in cancer research by increasing the pool of data available to help researchers accelerate new treatment strategies. The PSA launches in September and will run in print, digital, radio and out-of-home media outlets.

"Like far too many people, cancer has touched me personally. I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer and have other family members who have been affected by this disease," said Aduba. "I'm proud to lend my support to this campaign to encourage patients, especially from minority communities, to share their personal stories to help researchers discover breakthrough cancer treatments that are effective for all."

"We're honored to have Uzo Aduba join us to increase awareness and encourage cancer patients to share their data and unique cancer experiences," said Stand Up To Cancer CEO Sung Poblete, PhD, RN. "We hope this collaborative effort will increase the number of cancer patients participating in research so we can continue to break down barriers in cancer research and make additional advancements in treatment options."

Uzo Aduba, whose acting credits include Orange Is The New Black and In Treatment, has been supporting Stand Up To Cancer since 2018. Aduba appeared in the 2018 and 2021 SU2C Biennial Telecasts and participated in several SU2C social media campaigns as well as the 2019 "For All The Moments We Stand Up" campaign in collaboration with founding donor, Major League Baseball.

"Every patient's experience with cancer should be counted -- and all communities should have the opportunity to participate in and contribute to research. Count Me In was established so that every person affected by cancer can contribute their unique information to the research breakthroughs that will ultimately lead to better treatments, improved care and longer lives, said Nikhil Wagle, MD, director of Count Me In and a medical oncologist and cancer researcher at Dana-Farber and the Broad Institute. "We are incredibly grateful to Stand Up To Cancer and Uzo Aduba for partnering with us in this effort and for their efforts to break down barriers in order for all patients to benefit from new discoveries and treatments."

In addition to Aduba, the PSA also includes Bridgette, a breast cancer survivor; Maeve, an osteosarcoma survivor; and Joel, a five-time cancer thriver. The broadcast PSA was developed by SU2C, creative agency Florence, and production company Shark Pig; and produced by Shark Pig. The print campaign was produced by SU2C with photography by Matt Sayles.

Launched in 2018, Count Me In is led by three organizations: Emerson Collective, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and aims to engage more than 100,000 patients living with all major and rare cancer types.

To learn more about this PSA visit, StandUpToCancer.org/CountMeIn.

About Stand Up To Cancer 

Stand Up To Cancer^® (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by media and entertainment leaders who utilize these communities' resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness about cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in the fight against the disease. As of January 2021, more than 2,000 scientists representing more than 210 institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects.

Under the direction of our Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., SU2C conducts rigorous competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and ensure collaboration across research programs.

Current members of the SU2C Founders and Advisors Committee (FAC) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., serves as SU2C's CEO, and Russell Chew as SU2C's President.

For more information, visit StandUpToCancer.org, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch.

About Count Me In

Count Me In is a research initiative that enables cancer patients to directly transform cancer research and discovery. Individuals in the United States or Canada who have ever been diagnosed with cancer can share information about their experience by completing surveys, sharing biological sample(s), and copies of their medical records with researchers in order to accelerate discoveries. De-identified clinical, genomic, and patient-reported data is shared with the scientific community with the aim of learning from every cancer patient's experience, regardless of where they live.

SOURCE Stand Up To Cancer