We lost our friend Joe Hogan this past December.  Joe was a guiding light to many of us. He showed us the impact that each of us can have on humanity.  He made us better people.  He was humble, yet intelligent and he always knew how to get things done.  He made us laugh and showed us how to be a true friend.  He had an innate sense of finding ways to put others first.   

Joe Hogan spent the majority of his adult life working tirelessly in oncology and was proud to help health care professionals and patients on drugs to treat lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer & supportive care.  He worked directly with clinicians and investigators from around the world to insure that people living with cancer had access to cancer therapies and would use them safely & effectively.  Joe was a mentor and a friend to many people in the oncology pharmaceutical industry – influencing and guiding the careers of many of us who discover, develop, and deliver drugs to treat cancer throughout the world. 

This is what makes his loss to this disease all that more devastating to those of us who worked beside him for the past two decades and more.  The cancer that took Joe away from his loving family and friends was glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) – an exceptionally aggressive type of brain cancer.  The complexity of GBM – coupled with limited treatment options for it – means fewer than 3% to 7% of those diagnosed with it will survive longer than five years.  This devastating cancer may have taken Joe away from us – but it does not mean we cannot honor his life in a meaningful way – the way Joe would want it to be.  

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is the world’s leading oncology organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer.  This important organization was one Joe knew well – as he worked directly with them for many years – supporting their fund raising efforts for the ASCO Annual Meeting, Conquer Cancer Foundation, and the Young Investigator Award (YIA) program.  The YIA award provides funding to promising investigators to encourage and promote quality research in clinical oncology. The purpose of this award is to fund physicians during the transition from a fellowship program to a faculty appointment. 

Supporting clinical research – especially research geared to find new treatment options for people living with cancer – is something Joe was passionate about and supported himself.  It is why we have taken the opportunity to launch a worldwide effort to raise $57,500 to support a YIA in GBM research in memory of Joe Hogan.    We know raising this large sum of money to support research into the cancer type that ended Joe’s life is a daunting task.  Nevertheless – we launch this global effort feeling confident the network of friends and family that loved Joe dearly will rise to the challenge.  It is our hope – we can raise beyond the $57.5K – in order to support a second YIA that will continue to expand the legacy of Joe’s impact on the field of oncology research and drug development.

Let us all rally around this effort – and become a “Hogan Hero”!

With Deep Gratitude & Thanks –

Rich Mejasich, Barry Flannelly, Kerry Bradley, & Marty Duvall

**Conquer Cancer has a company match program built into all fundraising efforts.  Click on the link above gift values to check if your workplace will match your gift**