Saturday’s third AutoNation Cure Bowl has brought a total of $3,305,000 to cancer research and of this amount, almost $1 million is supporting the work of College of Medicine scientists.
Cure Bowl and College of Medicine leaders, elected officials, cancer survivors and football fans applauded the event, held at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, for increasing awareness and funding for breast cancer research. The AutoNation-sponsored game is the only bowl contest dedicated to a charitable effort. All proceeds benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the largest private funder of breast cancer research worldwide.
BCRF is the only breast cancer organization to receive an A+ rating from Charity Watch and spends 91 cents of every $1 it receives supporting research into a disease that affects one in eight women.
One of those efforts is led by Dr. Annette Khaled, professor at the College of Medicine’s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences and head of the medical school’s cancer research division. Dr. Khaled and Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, were on the field to help accept the giant Cure Bowl check and a proclamation from Orange County Mayor Theresa Jacobs. After the presentations, breast cancer survivors carried a giant pink quilt onto the field. The 20-foot-long quilt was made from 250 individual pieces created by AutoNation employees whose lives had been touched by breast cancer.
