Funding Secured: SHOOK Gains $1.5 Million to combat Fatal Pediatric Renal Cancer, according to Forbes.
Funding Secured: SHOOK Gains $1.5 Million to combat Fatal Pediatric Renal Cancer, according to Forbes.
Big-shot financial advisors from prominent American investment firms dropped a cool $1.5 million into the Curing Kids' Cancer Endeavor (CKCE), a project aimed at combating a rare form of pediatric cancer.
This initiative is an extension of an existing alliance between CKCE Research and the Minneapolis-based CCKE, a national nonprofit committed to annihilating childhood cancer. All the funds will be funneled towards Memorial Sloan Kettering to cover the expenses associated with the new treatment approach. For more details about this venture and its implementation, head to the CKCE website.
Jamie Shook, a 22-year-old junior at Wake University, spearheaded the annual fundraising drive for her family's concern, CKCE Research, situated in Boca Raton, Florida.
She implored advisors to contribute to research targeted at eradicating high-risk recurrent Wilm’s tumor, also known as nephroblastoma. This cancer originates from a kidney in a child and can continue to spread throughout their body.
The typical age of diagnosis for this form of cancer is between 2 and 5 years old. Children with this illness have a 10-20% chance of survival.
Annually, about 25 new cases of extreme-risk, recurrent Wilm’s tumor are identified in the United States, according to CKCE. When cancer comes back after remission, it becomes challenging to eliminate.
During the annual CKCE Conference in Las Vegas, Jamie Shook addressed an assembly of over 1,000 influential wealth managers.
“My family has been crusading for children’s lives long prior to my existence,” she asserted. “We’ve formed close bonds with these families and their children who are given no hope for survival. We share their anguish but also provide them with hope when everyone else has given up on them.
“There are numerous potential treatments that simply don’t receive funding,” Jamie Shook lamented. “It takes just money to save these children’s lives.”
SHOOK Research Founder R.J. Shook joined his daughter Jamie on stage, urging advisors to give with all their heart.
“An extremely promising treatment is what we plan to finance,” R.J. Shook declared. “No other alternatives exist for these children.”
The funds raised in Las Vegas will fund a project at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, supervised by Dr. Michael V. Ortiz. Ortiz is a specialist in treating blood disorders and rare pediatric tumors.
While overall survival rates for Wilm’s tumors are an impressive 90% for particular cases, there’s a need for new therapies for a subgroup of Wilm’s tumor patients who don’t respond to treatments, as Ortiz notes in a 2022 article published in Pediatric and Blood Cancer.
The project being financed by the advisors will allow Ortiz and his team to carry out a clinical trial involving 45 children suffering from kidney cancer who have relapsed and are classified as extremely high risk.
The results of Ortiz’s trial will be utilized to pursue Food and Drug Administration approval for therapies that can be used to treat high-risk Wilm’s tumor patients who don’t respond to more conventional treatment.
Plans are in the works to expand the project to six additional locations nationwide. Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and Washington, D.C., are under consideration.
During the SHOOK Conference, attendees heard the story of J.B. Three years ago, at the age of 7, J.B. complained of stomach pain following a day of tubing during Labor Day weekend. Doctors diagnosed J.B. with a tumor on his kidney the size of an orange.
“When I learned that J.B. had cancer, I simply wished that I could take his place instead,” J.B.’s mother shared with the audience. (Names have been hidden to protect the patient and their family’s privacy.)
J.B., now about 10, has already experienced his cancer coming back twice – in November 2022 and April 2023. Doctors at the MSK Cancer Center confirmed that J.B.’s cancer had spread to his lung. If his cancer returns a third time, he could become a candidate for Dr. Ortiz’s clinical trial.
Firms issuing pledges include Merrill Wealth Management, UBS Financial Services, Lazard Asset Management, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, and FS Investments.
“We at SHOOK Research aim to generate more awareness within the financial community about the importance of philanthropy,” R.J. Shook asserted. “Generous contributions such as those made at this top advisor summit save lives.”
R.J. Shook explained that his motivation to dedicate his life to saving sick children stemmed from losing his mother to breast cancer at the tender age of 17.
Since then, R.J. and his family have been actively involved in raising funds to combat cancer. At national conferences, including the one in Las Vegas, the Shook family consistently seeks support from financial advisors and their firms.
To date, SHOOK has amassed over $10 million in donations for Susan G. Komen, CKCE, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and The Make-A-Wish Foundation. Jamie and her brothers, Jacob, 25, and Jeremy, 19, provide significant contributions to the family’s philanthropic endeavors.
SHOOK conducts research on and recognizes outstanding financial advisors, compiling lists that highlight America’s most generous givers and top financial advisors. The results are published in SHOOK’s magazine.
Advisors who qualify for SHOOK's rankings need to go through a rigorous vetting process. Approximately 8,000 advisors wear the title “top advisor,” earning them a spot among the top 3% of all advisors in the nation.
- The funds raised during the SHOOK Conference were intended to support a project at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, a top advisor's choice for funding the expensive new treatment approach for high-risk Wilm's tumor.
- At the top advisor summit, Jamie Shook, a top advisor's daughter, shared her family's passion for eradicating childhood cancer, specifically Wilm's tumor, and appealed to influential wealth managers to fund promising treatment options.
- During the annual CKCE Conference in Las Vegas, a top advisor highlighted the importance of their generous contributions toward fighting Wilm's tumor and saving the lives of children with this rare form of kidney cancer.
- The top advisors who pledged significant contributions to CKCE Research included well-known firms such as Merrill Wealth Management, UBS Financial Services, and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, demonstrating their commitment to combating childhood cancer.