The foundation is an IRS registered non-profit 501(c) 3, public service charity designed for advocacy and service, created to promote change, through proactive means, in both the public and medical/dental professional sectors. At the forefront of our agenda is the firm establishment in the minds of the American public for the need to undergo an annual oral cancer screening, combined with an outreach to the dental and medical communities to provide this service as a matter of routine practice. Oral cancer takes more lives than cancers we routinely hear about, such as cervical, Hodgkins lymphoma, skin (malignant melanoma), testicular, and many others. In the efforts to reduce the death rate from cancers in the US, the most significant progress has been made through early detection. Cervical, skin, prostate, and others that lend themselves to simple, opportunistic screenings and exams have all had their death rates reduced through programs promoting early discovery. Early discovery and diagnosis, yields better long-term outcomes, and lower morbidity to those who undergo treatments. Oral cancer is not hidden within the body in some hard to find location requiring an invasive examination, the majority of the time it is literally in plain view, right under your nose, and can be seen with the naked eye or felt with the fingers. In most cases, its early, highly survivable stages are easily detected in a 3 to 5 minute painless visual and tactile examination. Even the precancerous lesions, which can progress into malignancy, can be seen with the naked eye. An annual oral examination conducted by members of the dental and medical communities will have a definite impact on reducing the death rate associated with oral cancer. It is our mission to bring this about.
With our mouth we eat and drink what sustains us. With it, we communicate ideas and feelings to the world through speech or a simple smile. It allows us to taste the nuance of a fine wine, the sweetness of a freshly picked berry, or mustard covered hot dog at the ballpark. Love or passion is expressed by it when we kiss a loved one or child. When cancer affects our mouths, it does more than take away these everyday functions, it too often takes our lives. Through increased public and professional awareness, prevention through lifestyle changes, early detection initiatives, education, improved treatment modalities, and sponsorship of research, the Oral Cancer Foundations mission is to contribute to the reduction of suffering, permanent physical damage and disfigurement, and death caused by this disease.
Founded by an oral cancer survivor, Brian R. Hill, the foundations goals are supported by a Scientific Advisory Board composed of leading cancer authorities from varied medical and dental specialties, drawn from premier cancer treatment, research, and educational institutions in the US. The foundation has a separate Board of Advisors composed of individuals with experience in philanthropic and cause related issues, many of whom are heads of large non-profits themselves. OCF continues to add to these boards, and its board of directors.
In 2008 The Bruce Paltrow Fund was added to OCF as a collaborative effort between the Paltrow family represented by Ms. Blythe Danner (Paltrow), Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Paltrow and the Oral Cancer Foundation. The Paltrow fund has specific goals to aid in fund raising and public outreach efforts. The goals reflect the humanitarian nature of Director Producer Bruce Paltrow who was lost to oral cancer in 2002. The foundation is primarily supported by and dependent on donations that are received from private individuals who mostly come from the ranks of survivors, as well as family and friends of those who have had the disease or been lost to it. As a disease that has not received the national publicity and awareness of some of the major cancers such as breast, prostate, etc., OCFs national fund raising pales in financial comparison. Because the foundation serves a relatively low incidence rate disease, (about 48k individuals in the US in 2016) with a very high death rate at 5 years as a percentage of those who get this cancer, the foundation can never reach the kind of support that many other cancers organizations receive. This creates a limited resource of those who can be asked to become donors or volunteers to OCF, and is a reality of the business model that OCF has to live within. A small group of private sector corporate sponsors have also made unrestricted donations to the foundation in support of its efforts. Early funding for some projects was underwritten and paid for privately by Brian and Ingrid Hill, the founders. Brian Hill has also donated his full time engagement as the foundations executive director, between 1999 and 2014 without compensation, to further the work of the foundation. While the foundation has the IRS tax status to receive monies from federal and state governments and institutions, no grant money has been obtained from these sources to date. The foundation hopes to continue to develop relationships with benevolent corporate sponsors or other foundations who share common goals with OCF, which will provide the funding necessary to enact the initiatives that the foundation has pending at this time. Despite these limitations in financial and human resources, OCF continues to receive awards and accolades each year for its activities. It is a five star (out of a possible five star) rated non profit at Guidestar and Great Non Profits two industry oversite organizations.
The Oral Cancer Foundations missions are rooted in science. OCF funds life-saving research and work that elucidates mechanisms for early discovery and furthers disease understanding. We provide direct peer to peer support for oral cancer patients and their caregivers. We disseminate vetted professional and public information on oral and oropharyngeal cancer, and work as advocates for national policies that facilitate disease awareness, early discovery, and improve treatments and their outcomes. Our foundations missions are changing patients lives today,and altering outcomes in the future.
The Oral Cancer Foundations core mission is to reduce the incidence of oral and oropharyngeal cancers in the US population, and support those who are currently or have been, impacted by the disease. We do so through the following mechanisms.
We provide the most current and vetted scientific information about the disease in a central location, the OCF web site which has hundreds of pages of regularly reviewed pages on the disease, treatments, research, and much more. This information can be accessed free of charge by anyone, and our site is regularly used by patients, students, doctors, researchers, and the general public interested in the disease. An informed public is able to avoid risk factors for disease development, and recognize early signs and symptoms that will facilitate early diagnosis and treatment.
The foundation is the home of the worlds largest patient support group for this disease. Located online, it currently has about 11,000 registered members (2016). Carefully monitored for content and appropriateness of the information exchanged, it is an environment which is free to those who use it, and also allows them to interact with each other and the professionals that monitor it in an anonymous manner. Besides direct interaction, there are over 250k threads of conversation there that can be searched for relevant answers to the problems our patients have experienced.
OCF is a direct funder of research efforts related to oral and oropharyngeal cancers in the US. We specifically underwrite and co-contribute with the NCI and others to work that has implications in early discovery. Early discovery of this cancer yields lower treatment related morbidity, and better long-term outcomes for patients. Typical sciences funded have been, salivary diagnostics and tissue auto fluorescence as early screening tools, as well as a great deal of work in understanding the HPV virus which is driving the rapid acceleration in theincidence of oropharyngeal cancers today. We are also now funders of immunotherapeutic treatment research, which is changing the core means by which we think of fighting all cancers.
We are an advocate for oral cancer related issues in many arenas, including federal agencies such as the NIH/National Cancer Institute, the CDC and the FDA. We have worked directly with political figures in the Senate to advance the control of tobacco via the FDA, a primary cause of our disease. We have argued and advanced the vaccination issue with the CDC to allow young males to be vaccinated with the HPV vaccine, which was previously only available to young females, protecting them from future oropharyngeal cancers caused by this virus. We have engaged the dental and dental hygiene communities to become involved in providing an annual opportunistic oral cancer screening as part of their routine practice, and have the support and strategic partnership of every major dental professional organization to accomplishing this.
Cancer survivor As I waited for Brian Hill to show up for our interview, I mentally thought about what I was expecting, lots of facts about the disease, the goal of the new Oral Cancer Foundation he was establishing, and of course I reminded myself not to stare, since I knew that many people who had survived this disease, lived with facial disfigurements from the surgery. Imagine my surprise when a normal looking man in his fifties walked into my office and introduced himself as Brian. Dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt that said Rugby elegant violence on the front of it, with a close cropped goatee, this wasnt the entrepreneur-turned-activist that I had expected.
Right away he started in, not about oral cancer, but about how a convergence of seemingly unrelated events focuses peoples lives to a particular task. Famous athletes, aviators, activists, inventors. Names that we all know, but who came to a particular course in their lives as a result of seemingly unconnected events and circumstance, mated with the recognition of an opportunity. Hold that thought hes off on another line. Why do so many people die from oral cancer? Why dont we hear more about it? First, the statistics come out. 30,000 (2021 edit. Since this interview, the number has changed in 2021 to 54,250) people will be diagnosed with it this year, in 5 years only 50% of them will still be alive, thats more deaths than from cervical cancer, Hodgkins disease, skin cancer, and many others. My story both illustrates the issue, and the problem. I settle in, listening. I dont think that Im going to have to ask too many questions in this interview.
He begins his story as a 19-year-old enlisted man in Vietnam with the First Medical Battalion, First Marine Division, in the late 60s. While he doesnt care to go into the details of his time in Vietnam on what he calls one of Uncle Sams guided tours of Southeast Asia , it is clear from our discussion that this is where he developed his interest in medicine, and a few core values that have stayed with him over the years. Not having the grades or the money to get into a medical or dental school when he returned from the war, he started out as a sales and technical rep for several big medical firms. Over the years he worked his way up through the management ranks in sales, marketing, and advertising, at companies like American Hospital Supply and Bristol Myers, finally working for several smaller firms who specialized in facial and dental implants. In 1987, having obtained a real world degree, under the mentorship of some of the finest managers in the industry, he started his own company, Implant Support Systems Inc. which designed, manufactured, and sold dental implants world wide. Flash forward to 1993 when his company was being sold to Lifecore Biomedical, a publicly traded firm who specializes in synthetic body fluids and implantable devices. He jokes that this was the American dream incarnate, a kid with a high school education, works his way through the system, ends up as a visible, well known lecturer who has spoken at major universities and implant symposiums around the world, who builds a multi-million dollar firm from his spare bedroom, and sells it for millions of dollars while still young enough to enjoy it all. While he says this all in an off-hand and casual way, it is clear that this is a person who has both a passion and a plan for things that he takes on.
I was on top of the world, living in two homes, one in the resort area of Lake Tahoe, and in a turn of the century adobe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, enjoying the fruits of what we had built. Ingrid (his wife) and I spent our days skiing, hiking, climbing, flying our aerobatic plane, traveling around the world life really couldnt have been any better. Well, maybe not having to shovel that 400 inches of snow off of my driveway which fell the first year we lived at the lake would have made it better. The American dream indeed.
But then one day everything changed. Hidden under his full beard that had grown in since giving up his suit and tie, a lump appeared on the side of his neck. I felt great in all respects, and except for this painless hard spot in my neck, I was completely without other symptoms. He decided to visit an ear, nose, and throat specialist to have it checked out. The conclusion was that it was likely just a swollen lymph node from perhaps a tooth abscess, or some other infection. He was put on antibiotics for a week to clear things up. I knew that my dental health was in order, after all, working in the industry, I was very dentally aware. More than that, he had seen two different dentists in the last 12 months, one for a check up and x-rays, the other to have a crown done on a lower molar. Two different hygienists had also taken care of his regular 6-month cleanings. I thought to myself, I couldnt have any dental problems causing this, my dentists were on top of my oral health, and I took great care of my mouth. When the antibiotics had no effect, a second ENT was consulted, and took a look at things. He noticed a red patch in the back of my throat right next to my tonsil, and it was decided that a fine needle biopsy would be done of the swollen node. A couple of days later the news that changed everything in his world came in the laboratory report. It was malignant. That red patch was a squamous cell carcinoma, which had developed on the pillar of his right tonsil, and had been there long enough to metastasize to his neck, as it turned out on both sides. When I looked in my mouth at the doctors office with a hand mirror, there it was, as plain as day. A large red discoloration the size of a dime. It didnt hurt. How long had it been there? To get to that size and start to spread to your neck, probably 18 to 30 months, the doctor said. Well, Ive had people looking and working in my mouth during that periodwhy didnt they see this thing? The question just hung in the air, and the ENT shrugged his shoulders.
After I picked myself up off the floor, the questions started running through my head. I mean, the words cancer and death are used in the same sentence too often for my liking. Brian immediately started calling friends in the medical community, and all recommendations were for him to go to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Consistently rated as the premier head and neck cancer institution in the world, it seemed like the right choice. Ingrid and I rented a small apartment next to the hospital and tried to get settled in for the long process ahead of both of us. When I first checked into MD Anderson, I was scared. I knew that having this cancer caught fairly late in its development, a stage 4, wasnt good. But the facility and the caliber of people I came in contact with helped settle my mind. With a staff of over 25,000, and a facility which covers acres, they treat over 250,000 cancer patients who arrive from around the world every year. It seemed if someone was going to save my life, this would be the place it could happen. It was like walking into NASA. The latest technologies coupled with the finest staff. I started believing that I could come out of this OK.
MDACC repeated the tests and MRIs that were previously done to confirm the extent of the disease, and a treatment plan was developed which included both radiation treatments and surgery. I felt a part of the entire process, and that helped me deal with what was going to happen. The loss of control when you are ill with something like this can be tough, especially when you are a driven, make it happen, take charge kind of personality. I mean, after you have chosen the care providers, you are completely putting yourself in someone elses hands to effect your cure. This is when the revelation that any control you think you have in your life is actually an illusion started to form in my mind. I was definitely not in control of things anymore. About this time Brian started learning more about his cancer, for instance that it appeared 75% of the time in people who use tobacco, but he had never smoked. There was no family history of cancers. He ate right, was physically active, and exercised. The only risk factor that seemed to fit, was that he was in the right age group.
I started thinking about two valuable lessons that I had learned in Vietnam. The first is that life is finite. Our culture doesnt talk much about death as a part of our lives, and we have a tendency to think we are going to go on forever. War makes you acutely aware that is not the case. Even in daily life, you never know when that truck with your name on the bumper is going to come around the corner. Its a perspective that keeps you focused on optimizing each day, and all your experiences. The second lesson was that you can do everything right, and still die. You can wear your helmet and flack jacket, keep your head down etc., and still be killed. It happens every day, over there, or here and now. I had lived a healthy life, and had none of the risk factors for this particular cancer. There was nothing I could have changed in my lifestyle to prevent it. But this cancer was positioning itself to end my life. I had forgotten these two realities during the 25 years after the war. Or perhaps I just lost the keenness of that perspective. In my new war with cancer, they both came back into crisp focus.
Weeks of daily radiation treatments began to blister and burn the skin on the outside of his neck; it became openly raw, and had to be covered with a burn salve all the time. The inside of his mouth and throat were the same, constantly bleeding, and full of open sores from the radiation. The pain and discomfort of the radiation burns were indescribable. Painkillers became a daily necessity, and I no longer could eat or drink through my mouth. I was throwing up all the time. A feeding tube was inserted directly into my stomach through my chest. That was how I would eat and take my medications for the balance of a year. Even after the radiation treatments ended, there was still the surgery to remove the lymph tissues from the right side of his neck. After the surgery, I thought to myself, finally its done, the worst is over. But thats when the radiation sickness took hold in full force. Months of it. By this stage of things I had lost about 50 pounds of body mass. I had become so weak that I couldnt even open the pop-top on a can of liquid food that I poured into my tube and feeding bag. Then the mental depression set in. The fight in me left, and between the pain, the treatments, the emotional upheaval, the narcotics, the constant nausea, and weakness, all of it became overwhelming, and I really wanted to give up. He jokes that at first he was afraid he was going to die, but at this stage he was afraid he wasnt going to die. He says with a laugh, that the idea of putting his head in the oven to end it all seemed attractive, until he remembered that it was electric. He sees that I dont find the humor in his comments. Gallows humor, its part of the coping process, he concedes.
Months passed and slowly he began to get his strength back. Then there was the issue of getting off of the addictive painkillers that he had been taking for the better part of a year. The withdrawal was a brand new battle. Other complications arose. His immune system, beaten up by the therapies, allowed infections to take a hold in his mouth and elsewhere. It seemed like it was just one thing after another. I can honestly say that I would have never made it through this alone. Ingrid was with me every treatment, every step of the way. She became more than my wife, she was my nurse, cleaned up after me when I was vomiting all the time, fed me, and was my whipping boy when life became unbearable. Through it all, she never wavered, never complained, and never gave up. When I wasnt strong enough to get through it, she became my strength. Long time friends rallied with daily emails and phone calls, though my throat was so raw that I couldnt speak the answers to their questions. They were determined to keep my mind positive, and remind me that they, and a life were waiting for me out there. Ingrid brought home a T-shirt for me one day. On the back of it was printed, Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog. It couldnt have been more appropriate. The doctors had done their part, and my wife and friends were doing theirs. This part of the battle was squarely on my shoulders.
While Brian doesnt like to dwell on it, he knows that there is still a danger of a re occurrence. Oral cancer is notorious for producing second, primary tumors, particularly in the first 5 years after treatment. Armed with what I know now, Ill be looking for any signs of it, and it wont go unnoticed like the first time. Which brings us to the new Oral Cancer Foundation. Most of the progress which has been made in the survival rates of all cancers has been through early detection. While there has been progress in lowering some of the death rates, we have not made great strides in treatment, which those of us that have been through it jokingly call the slash, burn, and poison approach. Oral cancer should not hold the high position it does as a killer. When it is caught early, it is 80 to 90% curable. It is one of the few cancers that does not require a special test, an invasive procedure, or special equipment to discover it. Literally, it is right under your nose, and not only early cancer, but even the tissue changes which precede it, can be seen with the naked eye, or felt with the fingers. There is no good reason that it should lie undetected if anyone is looking for it. That is what the foundation is all about. Letting the public know the facts. Building their awareness of the disease and the need for an annual screening. Everyone should ask their dentist, every year, to do a thorough screening, especially if they are over 40 years old, and particularly if they have been a smoker. Screenings take less than 5 minutes, are not uncomfortable, and are often free or inexpensive. A dental exam, when it incorporates a cancer screening, can save your life. The foundations work will also involve pushing for more aggressive participation by dental professionals, and efforts in tobacco cessation, particularly with young people. I can see that Brians attitude has changed during our conversation. While there was an eagerness to tell me his story, what I sense in his tone now is more intense, more passionate. He is clearly on a mission.
And all that discussion at the beginning of the interview about the convergence of circumstances? Here is Brians take on it all. The issue is not about new treatments or technology, it is about awareness and opportunities for screening. Changing public and professional awareness is essentially a marketing issue, something I have been involved in for over 25 years. And the people most likely to have a major impact on the death rate from oral cancer? The dental community, by doing an annual screening, just like others that have become commonplace in our lives, like pap smears or mammograms. I have worked in the dental industry for 30 years, and I have a good sense about what it will take to bring the issue to the forefront of that industry. What about perspective? Well, Ive been through the disease treatment process and survived. I understand the issues and problems first hand, from not having it caught during my dental exams, to dealing with the treatments and recovery. And time? Ive made my mark in the business world and enjoy the financial rewards of that. I have the time in my life to take up this cause and challenge. Lastly, timing. The public is ready to change things. They want to know the facts about issues that impact their lives. They are more interested and involved in their own health than at any time in history. Reducing the death rate from this disease is tangible, palpable, and doable in the immediate future. All in all, I would say that I am uniquely qualified to take up this cause and challenge at this particular moment in time. Its almost as if my whole life was building the experiences necessary to go out and do this. Then with a laugh he says, With my bad boy youth, and a life centered around getting myself ahead, who would have thought that I would end up the poster boy for a cause like this? It just somehow feels right inside.
Addendum. This interview from the LA Times is now more than 2 decades old. While the story is the same, some of the disease facts represented in this article are clearly now out of date. This interview was given before HPV16 was firmly established as a risk factor, and percentages and numbers related to the disease mentioned in it have changed many times in the past decades. Please use the main body of the OCF web site to obtain the most current data and not this article.)
Any organization is judged by the metrics of what it accomplishes each year. In the non-profit world, things are no different. While we do not measure our successes in stock value, we are responsible for accomplishing our mission goals each year, and serving the public that we are chartered to help. Many people and organizations watch what a non-profit does, from the IRS who grants an entitys non-profit status, to oversight organizations that rate non-profits, to donors who measure you against other potential worthy organizations for their philanthropy, to the most important group, those that you serve. OCF is very proud of our accomplishments over the years, even in the early years when we were just the seed of an idea, with only one person working towards changing the oral cancer paradigm in the US.
The old adage that if you show me your friends, I will tell you everything about you can be so true, and the foundation has had many important friends over the years that have chosen us to be a component of their effort, events, or their strategic partners. We began to get a sense that we were having some impact when important national publications asked us to comment on the oral cancer issue in their magazines or periodicals, and over the years we have been profiled or asked to contribute articles or provide perspective and opinions in hundreds of these kinds of venues. From dental trade publications to major newsprints such as USA Today, The Wall St. Journal, and the Boston Globe, OCFs opinions and name were in the media consistently. The very first was Dental Abstracts Magazine, for whom we wrote an editorial on the value of early detection and diagnosis. A showcase article on oral cancer, OCF, and Brian Hill in USA Today, the largest circulation newspaper in the US, shortly followed that. The Boston Globe did an article on Contagious Cancers which looked at the HPV issue and showcased OCF and its efforts to raise awareness of this new etiology. There have been hundreds of mentions, references to OCF as the source of information, and stories that painted OCF in a positive light, and they are too numerous to mention individually. Clearly these outside venues were acknowledging the foundations credibility and value as a trusted resource. TV shows such as Good Morning America told the oral cancer story, and in that case and many others to follow, the foundation provided all the background disease information as well as contacting patients, survivors, celebrities, and doctors to appear on the shows. More and more the foundation was being selected as a credible source, with trusted information. We are very proud that many fine news, magazines, and public dialog TV media have chosen us to partner with them to ensure the public hears an important story.
A couple of yearss into OCFs existence, even as a micro entity, the foundation was getting noticed. Brian Hill, OCFs founder was asked to be the keynote speaker by the World Health Organization (WHO) at their large World Conference on Oral Cancer, held in Crete. Given the size of OCF at the time this was quite an honor, that so large and powerful an organization had taken note of our work.
The foundation produced three public service announcements for TV the next few years with legendary multi Emmy award-winning actor Jack Klugman, and with Tony and Emmy award winning actress Blythe Danner-Paltrow, and Academy Award winning actor Michael Douglas. they each played for runs of more than 120 days on hundreds of TV stations across the country, and each received more than 34 million viewer impressions. That same year the OCF and founder Hill, were honored at the National Press Club with an award from the NIDCR, part of the National Institutes of Health, for excellence in public service, and the foundations work with these celebrities to bring much-needed awareness to the oral cancer cause.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation took notice of Brian Hills story and work, and OCF was asked to have him be filmed and interviewed for material that would become a permanent part of the LAF website. That same year after being chosen as their spokesperson for this disease, OCFs founder was asked to be part of LAFs Grant Review Committee, and his personal cancer story became a part of their book promoted nationally, Live Strong, Stories of Survival.
OCFs founder, Brian Hill was again singled out for a prestigious award for his impact through OCF by New York University, and was given their prestigious Strusser Memorial Award for public service during ceremonies at Madison Square Garden. Many notable people from surgeon generals to celebrities have been the recipients of the Strusser award. In the same year, OCF was recognized with an award from the Chicago Dental Society for its contributions to the battle against oral cancer, the George H. Cushing Award. This award recognizes those who contribute in a significant way to raise national public awareness about the importance of oral health.
Many universities and professional medical and dental societies have asked OCFs founder to speak at their annual meetings, scientific sessions, and to their students. He has spoken at meetings as diverse as the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Prosthetics, The American Academy of Oral Medicine, NYU, USC, UCLA, Tufts University, UCSF, and numerous others each year as well as being a speaker at continuing education courses on oral cancer for both medical and dental doctors. Speaking engagements and faculty positions on educational courses are a big portion of his requests each year, and in addition to them he has been asked to serve on a great number of oral cancer task forces and workgroups:
With all the knowledgeable and articulate people in the oral cancer world to choose from, it is an honor to be selected by these groups to share information and opinions, and guide the direction of upcoming trials.
After many years of working with researchers and lecturing, Mr. Hill was on the radar of the American Academy of Oral Medicine. He became the first non-doctor to be invited to join and was inducted into that organization by his long-term friend Dr. Ross Kerr, the organizations 2014 Vice President. The American Society of Treating Radiation Oncologists (ASTRO) selected Mr. Hill for their Survivors Circle Award, and his image graced the cover of their magazine with a corresponding story, and an invitation to address their annual convention. The award was given to Mr. Hill by his long time friend, radiation oncology mentor, and original treating radiation oncologist, Dr. Kian Ang, then president of ASTRO.
Getting support and engagement from those in the entertainment community can be difficult. Most celebrities from the movie and TV industry shy away from intimate involvement with organizations. Clearly their reputations are at stake every time the organization does anything. OCF has been very lucky to have the friendship, endorsements, and participation of wonderful individuals from this area. The foundations first partner was multi award winning actor and head and neck cancer survivor Jack Klugman, who partnered with OCF to appear in our first TV public service announcement. That PSA received more than 30 million viewer impressions on TV stations around America in a 120 day run. In that same year Emmy nominated actress Colleen Zenk, an oral cancer survivor became a spokesperson for OCF, appearing in TV PSAs and on TV talk shows. OCF worked with Ms. Zenk and her producer on the long running series As The World Turns, to incorporate a new story line for Colleens character. Her character developed oral cancer from an HPV viral infection, went through treatments, and dealt with the speech issues and more after treatment. For four months on daytime TV, 5 days a week, the oral cancer story was told and played out in the TV series. This public awareness effort effort cost the foundation nothing financially, and it was fortuitous that while in recovery from her treatments and slurring her words still, Ms. Zenk was able to go back to work, in a role where her speech issues were actually a positive character trait. This is just one of many examples where OCF works in an obtuse way to accomplish its mission goals.
The following year a formal relationship was built with the Paltrow family, with multi award winning actresses Blythe Danner, Gwyneth Paltrow, and producer / director Jake Paltrow launching the Bruce Paltrow Memorial Fund within OCFs structure in memory of their father who was lost to our disease in 2002. Ms. Danner has produced her own public service announcement with OCF besides appearing on many talk shows promoting the foundation, its April OC Awareness Month, and speaking about the rise of HPV as a cause. Ms. Danners TV PSA has run two times on national TV for 90 days each, and during each run has been viewed more than 30 million times. Katie Couric, Rachael Ray, Good Morning America, and many others have invited her on their shows to further the oral cancer cause and speak about OCF. Ms. Danner serves on the OCF Advisory Council.
Academy Award winning actor Michael Douglas, joined those making TV PSAs with OCF, and as a survivor has been willing to help the foundation in its many endeavors. His TV PSA received over 40 million viewer impressions during a 120 day run on national TV. He also serves on the OCF Advisory Council. All these celebrities have also been donors to the foundation helping to further its many missions. Just being announced in March of 2022, actor writer producer Stanley Tucci announced his joining the OCF Advisory Council to add his celebrity to the groups efforts.
Behind the scenes, Hollywood heavyweights including Ms. Lisa Paulsen, CEO of the powerful Entertainment Industry Foundation, and Ms. Sherry Lansing past president of Paramount Pictures, who along with Ms. Paulsen and others is a founder of the hugely successful Stand Up 2 Cancer organization, became official advisors to OCF. As vocal advocates or as advisors to OCF, these individuals use their celebrity for public good, and to further OCFs missions and accomplishments.
In 2009 OCF was chosen by non-profit industry oversight organization Great Non-Profits (www.greatnonprofits.org)as the best small cancer non-profit in the US, regardless of cancer type. When measured against several hundred other organizations, OCF was presented with this award for our work directly with patients and family members, through independent reviews. Every year since that award, OCF has been in the top ten cancer non-profit group at Great Non-Profits, regardless of organization size, which is a significant accomplishment when you consider the millions of dollars a year that some of the others bring in to accomplish their missions.
Mashable.com, a highly regarded technology industry observer, showcased OCF and its many Internet based efforts, but zeroed in on our groundbreaking use of a newly developing technology at the time the QR code, which is scanable from smart phones to take the user to dedicated content. OCFs idea to make temporary body tattoos of the unique code, which had never been done before, and put them on people at the more than 500,000 attending National Surfing Championships in Huntington Beach, California, was heralded by technology magazines and other industry observers. On a very small budget OCF reached the target young audience with a video on HPV and oral cancers, through an emerging technology, which worked through their ever present smart phones, in a manner never done before.
In 2015 the foundation embarked on a new initiative to return to its roots in the fight against tobacco. Realizing that tobacco use and initiation of tobacco use was very strong in rural America, the foundation formed a partnership with two young, up and coming rodeo competitors. As athletes in every sense of the word, and non-tobacco using spokespeople for the foundation, they competed in rodeos across America. Clad in OCF branded westernwear, they spend their non-arena time talking to children at the rodeos about not starting the tobacco habit. The slogan was Be Smart. Dont Start and they were a hit. As the first charity of any kind to be the primary sponsor of a cowboy who rode bucking broncos or for that matter competed in any rodeo events, the programs got widespread publicity. Magazines inside and outside the western world picked up the stories and soon thereafter the TV morning talk shows saw the two being interviewed about their mission. OCF has always believed that if you wish to solve a problem and effect change you have to go to where the problem lives. This was a typical example of that thinking, even when others suggested that we would not be welcome in a arena that is still heavy involved with tobacco, nor would this be successful. Now in its fifth year, the program has talked to thousands of children who leave the conversations with a custom OCF bandana to wear, and a role model to look up to that is a fierce competitor in the rodeo arena, and wins without tobacco being part of that effort.
A major oral cancer event in 2016, the Global Oral Cancer Forum, held in New York City, brought together oral cancer luminaries from 44 countries around the world. Those presenting and attending included academics, clinicians, activists, industry partners, survivors, government officials, and other stakeholders. OCFs founder Brian Hill, was one of the presenters asked to speak at that meeting, addressing the mechanisms by which the non-profit community could have a disease impact outside the realm of patient support that most are so well known for. While being asked to present at this meeting was an honor in itself, Mr. Hill was singled out to receive the sole award presented at the forum, an award for innovaton and leadership presented to him by long time friend and mentor Dr. Michael Alfano, executive vice president emeritus, New York University. Recognition at a global event from a body of individuals that he felt were the thought leaders in oral cancer, was a humbling event, for someone who considers himself only a journeyman in their company said Hill. Clearly the impact of the work both personal and through OCF has had ramifications world-wide.
In 2016 OCF also found a new high-profile partnership with the mega-band Coldplay and band member Chris Martin. This is a band that for years, regardless of what continent they are on, sells out stadiums to perform for tens of thousands of fans at each with routine. The band has won 62 awards from 209 nominations throughout their career, including nine Brit Awardswinning Best British Group four timesfive MTV Video Music Awards and seven Grammy Awards from 31 nominations. Coldplay have sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making them one of the worlds best-selling musical artists. They also have a long history of charity efforts supporting many worthy causes; clearly they are not just musicians but a band with a strong social consciousness. OCF is grateful to be included as an organization worthy of this kind of support from them. Through this partnership and a relationship with celebrity experience auction house CharityBuzz, the band graciously auctioned off meet and greet experiences at three of their biggest concerts in stadiums across America during the Head Full of Dreams world tour to raise money for the oral cancer cause. Coldplay has 50 million followers in the social media world, imagine what stories there about their charity work with OCF means to rasing awareness of the disease.
What this organization lacks in infrastructure it makes up in the development of strategic alliances. What it lacks in raw dollars to get their message out, it makes up for in creative and innovative approaches, often convincing celebrity spokespeople to deliver its message. What it does not lack in is a true passion to serve the needs of others.