I Know A Fighter 5k,

About the event

About the Event

The Children’s Tumor Foundation I Know A Fighter 5K tour will travel to 10 major cities so that people across the country can help CTF in the fight to end NF. This family-friendly event will feature a 3.1 mile race and a wonderful finish line festival.  

Join us at the Philadelphia Zoo on April 28th for our 5k.  Registration for the 5k also includes same day entry to the Zoo once race concludes.

About the Cause

NF (neurofibromatosis) is a genetic disorder that affects 1 in every 3,000 people worldwide and causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. There is currently no cure, but there is hope. The Children's Tumor Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to funding NF research to find effective treatments, expanding knowledge of the disorder, and advancing care for the NF community. 

Why should you sponsor?

From 2010 to 2016, the Children’s Tumor Foundation’s primary objective has been to fill the clinical drug development pipeline. We strategically integrated our investments into this clinical pipeline, resulting in substantial accomplishments by the end of those five years:

• Over 70% of all NF data in the world has been funded or co-funded by CTF.
• CTF investments in the last five years ($26.6M) have already attracted $38.4M in follow-up funding from other sources.
• CTF’s NF preclinical initiatives have generated 115 preclinical studies which have led to 16 clinical trials.
• One of those trials (MEK inhibitor) resulted in over 50% of participants in a clinical trial seeing a reduction of at least 20% in their inoperable plexiform neurofibromas.
• CTF created the NF Registry, which, with over 8,000 patients thus far, has been utilized 22 times to recruit patients to clinical trials.
• The CTF Biobank collected more than 200 tissue samples and a body donation program is in place.
• CTF built an innovative research model called Synodos, which attracted a “dream team” of scientists who pledged to work together collaboratively.
• CTF launched an NF data hub, providing an open access data platform to all.
• CTF collaborated with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), and Neurofibromatosis Therapeutic Acceleration Program (NTAP) to build a common grant repository for an easy visualization of the NF funding landscape.

The accomplishments of the past enable us to turn our eyes toward lofty goals. Our strategy for the next five years is to double the speed of clinical therapies to the clinic. We are advancing our Synodos consortia, increasing our NF data hub, growing the CTF Biobank, and expanding the NF Registry. With your help, our hope for the future includes partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry and the creation of an NF Biomarker Center to discover measureable biological indicators for NF.

We are planning for a future in which there are approved drugs for the treatment of NF. Thanks to you, we are advancing this vision!

Ally Lamanna

My name is Allison and I am the Race Director for the I Know A Fighter 5K!

This is my first year with Childrens Tumor Foundation and our first I Know A Fighter 5K nationwide tour. We are building this event from the ground up and we'd love your help as a founding sponsor!

The Zoo provides a perfect back drop for our family-centric event. We are seeking family focused companies to help us achieve our goal!

Your consideration is much appreciated!

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