Lebanon
Scott Gerber, an associate professor of molecular and systems biology at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and co-leader of the Cancer Mechanisms basic science research program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, is one of the chairmen. His current work on proteins has been funded by Prouty grants and has led to major federal funding.
Merle Schotanus, a retired U.S. Army Airborne Infantry Officer and two-time cancer survivor, is the second chairman. Schotanus first cycled The Prouty in 2006 at the suggestion of his daughter. He was so impressed with the event that he started a Prouty team in Grantham — the Grantham Mountaineers — in 2008. That first year, his team had 10 members and raised $5,000. Last year, the team celebrated its 10th anniversary with 66 members and raised more than $111,000.
This year, the Prouty is expected to draw more than 4,000 participants and 1,200 volunteers for cycling, walking, rowing and golf events. Organizers are hoping to exceed the $3.1 million dollars raised last year for cancer research and patient supportive services.
“The money raised by the Prouty provides nearly 50 percent of our discretionary cancer center budget,” Steven D. Leach, the director of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, said in a news release. “It makes our research and patient supportive services possible.”
Ninety cents of every dollar raised by the Prouty goes directly to support patient supportive services and cancer research. Some of the funds are used for Prouty pilot projects, small grants given to fund innovative research ideas. When the statistics for those projects were reviewed, the cancer center discovered that for every dollar invested, over time it received $23 in additional funding from outside sources, Leach said.
“That’s an incredible return on the investment our community makes in itself through the Prouty, and a testament to the creativity and high impact of our science,” he said. “It is all made possible by our participants and their commitment to putting an end to cancer.”