Category: Events
Melanoma Awareness Month 2024: In Case You Missed It
By Renee Orcione, MRA Digital Engagement & Communications Manager | 30 May 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, Melanoma Stories, News, Prevention, Science, Treatment
Throughout the last 31 days, the entire melanoma community has come together to recognize Melanoma Awareness Month. The community heard from leading experts in the field, connected with other patient advocates, and spread awareness of melanoma and the importance of prevention, early detection, and the impact of research.
Melanoma Awareness Month: Ways to Get Involved
By Renee Orcione, MRA Digital Engagement & Communications Manager | 29 April 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, Melanoma Stories, News, Prevention, Science, Treatment
Melanoma Awareness Month, held each May, is an occasion to connect and be in community with others who have been touched by melanoma. With this month brings the opportunity to join forces with other melanoma advocates to raise awareness of melanoma research, the importance of early detection, and the many...
Why I Step – Jeff Heaser
By Renee Orcione, MRA Digital Engagement & Communications Manager | 18 April 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, Melanoma Stories, Prevention, Science, Treatment
In the summer of 2017, Jeff Heaser's eldest son, Jake, received a devastating diagnosis: Stage 4 melanoma. Over the following several years to treat his melanoma, Jake underwent multiple surgeries, radiation treatment, BRAF targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and countless blood tests and scans through Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
The Future of Immunotherapy & Cell-based Therapies
11 March 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, News, Science, Treatment
“Melanoma research helped lead the way to a lot of paradigm shifts in cancer treatment,” says Dr. Antoni Ribas, Professor of Medicine, Surgery, and Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
Recordings from MRA's 2024 Patient Forum
27 February 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, Melanoma Stories, Prevention, Science, Treatment
MRA’s 2024 Patient Forum brought together melanoma patients, survivors, advocates, and their loved ones to provide lay-friendly, state-of-the-science education and promote collaboration.
Improving Communication With Your Melanoma Care Team
20 February 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, Melanoma Stories, Treatment
Good communication is always challenging but can be especially so when you are undergoing treatment for melanoma. That’s because navigating our modern healthcare system is often an exercise in decoding complex jargon and knowing the right questions to ask while managing stress and other strong emotions.
Melanoma Research Alliance Applauds FDA Approval of First Cellular Therapy in Melanoma
16 February 2024 In Events, News, Treatment
The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the largest non-profit funder of melanoma research worldwide, welcomes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to approve Iovance Biotherapeutics’ AMTAGVITM (lifileucel) for the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma in the second line treatment setting.
Melanoma Immunotherapies & Immune-related Adverse Events: A Conversation with Dr. Alexandra-Chloé Villani
By Tanisha Jackson, PhD - MRA Scientific Program Director | 5 February 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, Science, Treatment
Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are side effects experienced by patients undergoing immunotherapy to treat their melanoma (or other cancer). In November, at the annual Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) meeting, we spoke with Dr. Alexandra-Chloé Villani, an MRA-funded investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital, to learn more about immune-related adverse events and the research she leads in this area.
Where Innovation Meets Impact: MRA 2023 Annual Report
23 January 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, Melanoma Stories, News, Policy, Prevention, Science, Treatment
MRA is a world leader in advancing transformational science that has caused paradigm shifts in what it means to be diagnosed with and treated for melanoma. The innovative research we support isn’t just changing science — it’s giving patients more treatment options that translate to longer, fuller lives.
New Research Alert: Melanoma and Microbiota: Current Understanding and Future Directions
8 January 2024 In Allies & Partnerships, Events, News, Science, Treatment
A perspective article summarizing the field’s current knowledge on how the gut microbiota affects melanoma response to immunotherapy, and how this knowledge can be used to improve patient outcomes was recently published in the journal Cancer Cell.