Most of us are familiar with Sean Parker from the movie The Social Network. He was the “bad boy” character played by Justin Timberlake.  Sean Parker was the cofounder of the file-sharing computer service Napster and served as the first president of Facebook.

What most of us do not know about Sean Parker is that he donated $250 million of his own money to cancer research through the Parker Foundation. A foundation that he started which focuses on life sciences, global public health and civic engagement. Collectively, the Parker Foundation has donated $600 million to medical research. A large portion of this has been allocated to the study of the cancer treatment known as Immunotherapy. Parker also formed a Dream Team of Scientist and teamed up with politicians like Vice President Joe Biden and Former President Jimmy Carter to help further his efforts.

It was the loss of a dear friend to cancer that sparked Parker’s mission to find a cure for the disease. He conducted his own research which lead him to becoming a true advocate for Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is a form of treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells.

Currently, Immunotherapy receives less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute’s research budget. Most of the budget is focused on novel chemo and “targeted agents.” This being the reason Parker felt the need to step in and help out with the progression of Immunotherapy.

The number of successful cases using Immunotherapy treatment has recently grown. One of the most prominent is the 91 year old former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Parker has also pledged $24 million to allergy research. Thank you Mr. Sean Parker, please keep up the good work!

To read more about Sean Parker take a look at the two articles I found below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sean-parker-cancer-research_us_570deae1e4b08a2d32b864b9

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tech-mogul-sean-parker-donates-250-million-cancer-research-immunotherapy/

 

Written by Alison Pitre, Marketing Director