This morning, Monday, July 11, 2022, our Executive Director, Jeri Wilson, flanked by staff and PCRF supporters rang the Nasdaq Opening Bell to help celebrate our 40th anniversary of powering cures and realizing futures. Since 1982, we have been chasing one ambitious goal: to make it possible for all children facing childhood cancer to beat their disease and realize their full potential. Over the past four decades, our collaborations with scientists have contributed to significant advances in pediatric care, which have improved US survival rates by as much as 70 percent. But there is a lot more work to do. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death for children under 19 years of age and too many kids with cancer are using decades-old treatments that are too toxic for their developing bodies.
That is why the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation is seizing our anniversary to magnify our impact. We are more determined than ever to accelerate the discovery of innovative treatments and protocols specifically for kids. We see a future that enables children facing cancer to spread their wings and realize happy, healthy futures. And we will not stop until that future is a reality.
The opportunity to ring the bell at Nasdaq provided a great platform to increase awareness about the foundation and the urgent need to fund pediatric cancer research. For the full hour of the event, we were able to have photos of our very own PCRF Kids flashed on the Times Square Marquee along with our new logos and branding. Jeri was introduced by Vice Chairman of Nasdaq, Bob McCooey, and then she was able to speak a bit about the mission of PCRF for the entire world to hear.
The ceremony was streamed live on Nasdaq.com, on the Nasdaq tower with closed captioning, on Facebook live, and was also recorded and archived on Nasdaq.com for future viewing by the public. We were honored to be given this opportunity and hope you will take a minute to watch the archived recording at your convenience. Thank you to Nasdaq for providing this platform for us to raise up the voices of children and their families fighting childhood cancer.
