Times have surely changed. There has been a paradigm shift in public awareness and understanding of the critical importance of research – innovative, determined, consequential research – to solve the toughest of medical puzzles. It is almost as if we have, as a society, learned a new language in 2020, and moved disease experts and researchers to a new place in the hierarchy of what matters.
If we ever wondered how important research is to identifying causes and cures for diseases that afflict society, the past nine months of the pervasive coronavirus have eliminated all doubt. It is research that drives discoveries that can save lives, and we’re seeing that play out in real time.
An initiative launched in Connecticut is taking direct aim at opening up the way in which research is funded, with the most elusive of illnesses – cancer – clearly in its sights. The premise is simple, and the need for progress undeniable.
Here’s how the website for SoundAffects describes their effort to “revolutionize” cancer treatment: “A severe funding gap remains for innovators who are developing promising technologies for fighting cancer. Most of these technologies will fail before they get a chance to prove their possibility – this is not always because the science is bad – but rather, because they lack the funding to succeed. This funding breakdown, known as the ‘Valley of Death,’ where great ideas go to die, fully impedes progress in reducing the cancer burden.”
Led by Connecticut resident Mona Jhaveri, PH.D., Sound Affects, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, is moving strongly to change the status quo by “leveraging the power and passion of people and music” to raise funds and awareness of promising cancer innovations. They’ve been doing that, largely under the radar, for several years, making steady progress.
Now, their mission - to increase the number of cancer-fighting technologies in the product development pipeline so that more solutions make it to those in need – is hitting some noteworthy milestones. Even amidst the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, cancer remains the second-leading cause of adult deaths in the U.S., after only heart disease, with more than 600,000 Americans expected to succumb to cancer this year.
Currently, three research initiatives, launched by three different companies, are seeking funds through the SoundAffects website, and Jhaveri indicates that others are soon to join them. Metis Biosciences, Aphios International and Sonogen – led by a Connecticut native - are actively seeking funds to continue their research.
The SoundAffects site explains each of the entrepreneurial research efforts, with specifics provided directly from the researchers. It offers potential donors and the researchers a chance to “virtually” cross paths, so those inclined to support cancer research gain insight into precisely how their contribution could help sustain a promising research initiative. It is the lack of funding that often constrains the translation of cancer research discoveries into clinical applications, Jhaveri points out.
“So many promising cancer-fighting solutions never move forward because they lack the necessary funding. We’re working to change that, and we’re more hopeful than ever that people understand how important this effort is, and the substantial impact that we can have together on truly innovative, groundbreaking biotech research into cancer.”
Sound Affects strategically partners with emerging music artists to help generate a “movement for change in the war on cancer.” The up-and-coming performers, who commit to raise funds in support of the research companies’ campaigns as they seek to grow their own music careers, do so under the banner “Music Beats Cancer.”
It is innovative crowd-funding, designed to fill the funding gap that has proven to be a hurdle that many cancer research initiatives – despite how promising they may be - just can’t get beyond. Current participating performing artists include Airy Jeanine, AshTad, King Cavalli, Christina Custode,and Alex Caruso.
In recent weeks, SoundAffects has formed a strategic partnership with Vevo – the world’s leading music video platform – to get the word out about the cancer research companies seeking funds as the site promotes the music of the leading and emerging artists. And additional efforts are under discussion that would further broaden awareness, helping to keep a potential cancer-fighting solution from falling into funding “valley.”
Sound Affects is also now associated with Family Office Networks, an organization of high net worth individuals interested in charitable and investment opportunities, which has expressed interest in live science innovations, particularly around cancer. Sound Affects was recently spotlighted in the organization’s newsletter.
Much of the money raised for cancer research, in the United States and worldwide, goes to well-known organizations with lengthy pedigrees. Sound Affects seeks to enable smaller, entrepreneurial biotech firms engaged in cancer research to attract direct funding to support their work.
It is utterly unpredictable where the next technological innovation idea that turns the corner on cancer and its cancer-related illnesses will be found. SoundAffects premise, quite simply, can be described as seeking to ensure that no potential solution that could move us closer to a cure goes un- or under-funded.
Jhaveri, the founder, executive director, and chairman of the board at Sound Affects, knows of what she speaks. She holds a doctorate in biochemistry from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, and trained as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute.
Prior to Sound Affects, she founded Foligo Therapeutics, Inc. to develop and commercialize a DNA-based therapeutic compound as a potential treatment for ovarian cancer. While Foligo was able to initially attract funding from various state-run venture programs and business plan competitions, the company ultimately succumbed to the Valley of Death, closing its laboratory and research facilities.
Jhaveri next launched Sound Affects “to create a funding platform that empowers the public to directly and transparently support the development of cancer-fighting solutions.” There is – and can be – potent strength in numbers, and Sound Affects is tapping that strength to provide high potential biotech firms with sufficient resources to pursue their research paths, unleashing promising life-changing and life-saving solutions.