“This funding is another key resource in UofL and Norton Children’s ongoing work to build a cutting-edge pediatric cancer research program,” said Michael Ferguson, chief of the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation in the UofL School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and chief of Norton Children’s Cancer Institute. “This will allow us to develop new pediatric cancer treatments and bring them to families in Kentucky and surrounding states before they are available anywhere else – ensuring children here have first access to the latest approved therapies.”

Previous grants funded some of the biggest findings within the UofL Department of Pediatrics and Norton Children’s Cancer Institute. One notable example is conducted by the late William Tse. The research involves reprogramming the immune cells of brain cancer patients to kill their own brain cancer cells that have resisted conventional therapy.

Previous grants funded a basic science program that helps researchers better understand how certain chemotherapy drugs impact the heart and what adjustments can be made to prevent those side effects, along with work that is helping children manage pain during cancer treatment. Earlier this year, the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund also awarded a grant to help establish the , a space to support patients and families through every step of their cancer journey.

“The partnership between the University of Louisville School of Medicine and��Norton Children’s creates an unparalleled environment for pediatric cancer care and research in Louisville and beyond,” said Jeffrey Bumpous, dean of UofL School of Medicine and executive vice��president for health affairs. “Through Norton Children’s Cancer Institute, our dually employed faculty��are��able to offer innovative treatments and clinical trials while advancing research��for our most vulnerable cancer patients and training the next generation of physician-scientists.”

The new researchers are expected to join UofL in early 2026.

By Jaimie Weiss

These are the ingredients that make up raiseRED, the University of Louisville’s largest student-run philanthropy that has raised over $4.7 million for pediatric cancer and blood disorders research and patient support since 2013.

“Fight Like a Kid” is the theme of this year’s raiseRED, which will be held Friday through Saturday, Feb. 23-24, at the Swain Student Activities Center Ballroom.

raiseRED is a dance marathon that benefits UofL’s Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute outpatient clinic. Participants raise a minimum of $200 per person to participate, with many raising even more.

“Every dollar fundraised for raiseRED goes directly to either research for pediatric oncology or to the patients themselves,” Emilia Perez, a UofL student who was diagnosed with lymphoma in high school, said. “Everything we raise is going to benefit someone personally.”

The event kicks off at 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 23, and culminates with the big reveal of total dollars raised at the Community Celebration from 10:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Feb. 24.

In between, students will kick up their heels. To keep up their spirits – and help keep their eyes open – several mini-themed events are held during raiseRED. Among them are:

• Buzz for the Cure: A long-standing raiseRED tradition, students pledge to shave their head, or do a major chop, during the dance marathon if they reach their fundraising goal.
• Angel Hour: The people in participants’ lives who have been impacted by cancer and blood disorders are recognized and remembered.��
• Mail Call: Letters of support from participants’ loved ones are read to cheer them on.
• Silent Disco: The speaker system goes silent and participants wear headphones to hear and dance to music only they can hear.

It’s the cause of helping others battling cancer and giving second chances that is the core of the effort, said Sophie Doszak, a junior at UofL.

Doszak was swabbed by the during raiseRED in 2022 and received the call last year that she had matched with a leukemia patient.��

“I would not have donated without raiseRED,” Doszak said. “Seeing the impact that you can have on someone’s life made me wish I had gotten on the donor list a long time ago. Most of the time it takes years to finally match with someone, and I was lucky enough to match with someone and give my gift of life to someone who needed another chance at life.”

The event will be beginning at 6 p.m. Friday. For information and to donate,

UofL’s largest student-run philanthropy once again hit it out of the park.

raiseRED, an annual dance marathon that benefits UofL’s Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute outpatient clinic, generated more than $551,000 Feb. 24-25. This brings the cumulative total raised over the 10-year history of the event to more than $4.6 million.

Participants raise a minimum of $200 per person to participate, with many raising even more.

The 18-hour event featured dancing and a few other events-within-the event, such as:

• Buzz for the Cure: A long-standing raiseRED tradition, students pledge to shave their head, or do a major chop, during the dance marathon if they reach their fundraising goal.
• Angel Hour: The people in participants’ lives who have been impacted by cancer and blood disorders are recognized and remembered.��
• Mail Call: Letters of support from participants’ loved ones are read to cheer them on.
• Neon Silent Disco: The speaker system goes silent and participants wear headphones to��dance to music only they can hear.
• And new this year: The Hypnotic Experience. Hypnotist ‘TG’ Rivers will tap participants to be hypnotized to entertain the crowd.

It’s the cause, however, of battling childhood cancer and blood disorders that is the core of the effort, said raiseRED Executive Director Valerie Tran, a senior majoring in industrial engineering.

“raiseRED is a year-long effort to help children with cancer and blood disorders in the Louisville area, and I’m so humbled to see the courage these kids show,” Tran said. “I know what we are doing and the funds we raise can make a difference in the lives of these children and their families every day.”

These are the ingredients that make up raiseRED, the University of Louisville’s largest student-run philanthropy that has raised over $4.1 million for pediatric cancer and blood disorders research and patient support since 2013.

Celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year, raiseRED will be held Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25, at the Swain Student Activities Center Ballroom.

raiseRED is a dance marathon that benefits UofL’s Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute outpatient clinic. Participants raise a minimum of $200 per person to participate, with many raising even more.

The event kicks off at 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24, and culminates with the big reveal of total dollars raised at the Community Celebration from 10:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Feb. 25.

In between, students will kick up their heels. To keep up their spirits – and help keep their eyes open – several events-within-the-event are held. Among them are:

• Buzz for the Cure: A long-standing raiseRED tradition, students pledge to shave their head, or do a major chop, during the dance marathon if they reach their fundraising goal.
• Angel Hour: The people in participants’ lives who have been impacted by cancer and blood disorders are recognized and remembered.��
• Mail Call: Letters of support from participants’ loved ones are read to cheer them on.
• Neon Silent Disco: The speaker system goes silent and participants wear headphones to dance to music only they can hear.
• And new this year: The Hypnotic Experience. Hypnotist ‘TG’ Rivers will tap participants to be hypnotized to entertain the crowd.

It’s the cause, however, of battling childhood cancer and blood disorders that is the core of the effort, said raiseRED Executive Director Valerie Tran, a senior majoring in industrial engineering.

“raiseRED is a year-long effort to help children with cancer and blood disorders in the Louisville area, and I’m so humbled to see the courage these kids show,” Tran said. “I know what we are doing and the funds we raise can make a difference in the lives of these children and their families every day.”

For information and to donate, visit the

The COVID-19 pandemic has gutted the signature 18-hour dance marathon and its emotional, sweat-and-tear-filled fundraising reveal.

That’s not to say the show won’t go on, however. raiseRED has shifted its entire model to include a number of virtual components, and also some socially-distanced features at the SAC.

“Cancer doesn’t stop because of a pandemic. We still need to do what we can for these kids,” said senior Benjamin Gerdes, internal projects coordinator for the organization.

“Not doing it never occurred to anyone,” added senior Zach Pennington, a programming director.

The goal remains the same as well – to raise money for the kids (#FTK); money that directly benefits research and patient needs. Last year’s dance marathon – one of the last major events on campus before the pandemic pushed operations online – raised $690,921.

The event has raised $3 million throughout the last seven years.

This year’s agenda

This year’s non-traditional event kicks off Feb. 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. with Motivation Monday, including family stories, speakers, line dancing instruction and more. This event is open to the public.

Teams Tuesday is Feb. 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., when students have the chance to choose what sessions they want to attend – from yoga to line dancing instruction.

February 24 is “Why I Dance Wednesday,” offering a night of reflection about the meaning behind raiseRED, our Cardinal kids and their families.

Speaking of Cardinal kids, the crowd-favorite kid talent show is Thursday, Feb. 25 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This event is open to the public and will be streamed live on raiseRED’s YouTube page.

The event rounds out with a scavenger hunt around campus to incite some friendly competition among color teams, Feb. 26, and Angel Hour – just prior to the reveal, Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to noon.

raiseRED students said they are trying to work out the final details for that reveal, hoping to receive permission to unveil fundraising numbers on a bridge overlooking a parking lot on campus, so students can attend in person while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Although the shift has created some challenges, junior Emma Gabbard, a programming director, said that itself is nothing unusual.��

“Every year has its challenges. This year, they’re just different. Instead of worrying about whether or not the DJ is going to show up, we’ll be worried about whether or not the WiFi goes out,” she said. “All of those challenges are more than worth it.”

It’s also worth noting that while things will be significantly different this year, the raiseRED committee plans to carry on some of the virtual aspects of the event.

“We were bummed to have to go to a hybrid model, but what it made us realize is that the event is now more accessible for some of our kids and their families. We had families who couldn’t make the reveal because they were three hours away, or kids who couldn’t make it because they were immunocompromised,” Gabbard said. “We will definitely continue some of those virtual pieces when we go back to normal so we can be more accessible to all of our families, and learning that has definitely been one of the positives out of this year’s experience.”��

Commonwealth Cup ��

In addition to a shift to hybrid events, UofL is also teaming up with the University of Kentucky for the first time this year to raise funds and awareness of the schools’ dance marathons. The so-called , bringing UK’s Dance Blue and UofL’s raiseRED together in an attempt to raise $50,000 collectively for the respective hospitals the dance marathons benefit.

For DanceBlue, money raised benefits the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Hematology/Oncology Clinic. raiseRED’s funds benefit the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute and the UofL Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology.

The Commonwealth Cup will be held via both of the dance marathons’ social media channels (For UofL, Instagram/Twitter: @raisered_uofl; Facebook, RaiseRED; TikTok, @raisered), with daily posts highlighting the fundraiser. In addition to the daily posts, there will also be two events held on Feb. 10:

• An all-day TikTok competition in which the dance marathon with the most engagement wins (@raisered and @ukdanceblue)
• A virtual bingo event is scheduled for 7 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend and has the chance to win prizes from either DanceBlue or raiseRED.

Norton Children’s Cancer Institute��

Also new for raiseRED this year is a new beneficiary – Norton Children’s Cancer Institute. The affiliation between Norton Healthcare, UofL Physicians – Pediatrics and the UofL School of Medicine was finalized .

What that means is this year, in addition to supporting the work of a clinical social worker and nurse, as the organization has done in the past, it will also support staff funding for a new child life specialist. According to raiseRED’s finance director Ben Barberie, this position will work alongside a new service dog in the Novak Center and Norton Children’s Cancer Institute. The CLS helps children and families navigate and process a new diagnosis, illness or traumatic event.��

The full-time CLS/dog team is also there to assist with fun, inviting, educational and stress-reducing activities as well, Barberie said.��

For more information about this year’s raiseRED, including how to donate, visit raisered.org.

Combining the efforts of Norton Cancer Institute and Norton Children’s Hospital, in affiliation with University of Louisville, Norton Children’s Cancer Institute will provide improved access and additional services to care for children fighting cancer. This includes new programs for treating rare tumors and benign blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia, as well as a revamped program for bone marrow transplants.

In addition to offering new types of care, Norton Children’s Cancer Institute has three primary goals:

• Increase the number of clinical trials offered to patients and gain access to new therapies in their earliest stages
• Develop additional groundbreaking research and cutting-edge technology
• Recruit additional hematology/oncology specialists and medical students to improve patients’ access to care.

“We expect Norton Children’s Cancer Institute to be the beacon of hope for families not just in Metro Louisville, but throughout the entire commonwealth,” said Thomas D. Kmetz, division president, Women’s and Children’s Services and Norton Children’s Hospital. “This collaboration will create an even more unified focus on delivering unparalleled cancer care to children fighting this terrible disease.”

“This is our chance for Louisville to become nationally recognized in the world of pediatric cancer research and gain access to the most cutting-edge clinical trials,” said Joseph M. Flynn, DO, MPH, FACP, executive director and physician-in-chief, Norton Cancer Institute. “We see this affiliation as an opportunity to combine our resources and expertise to give kids the best treatment there is.”

The University of Louisville will provide physician support for Norton Children’s Cancer Institute. Norton Healthcare will commit $1 million to UofL per year for pediatric oncology research and physician recruitment, as well as offer leadership and support staff for the institute.

“The relationship between Norton Children’s Hospital and the University of Louisville leading to the creation of Norton Children’s Cancer Institute is to forge a productive collaboration in the battle against childhood cancer,” said Toni Ganzel, MD, MBA, executive dean for the UofL Health Sciences Center. “The within the UofL School of Medicine has been part of one of medicine’s greatest successes in the sharp rise in survival rates of children with cancer.

“With more survivors, there is an urgent need to understand the effect of treatments on the entire body, not just the cancer. With a multidisciplinary approach and comprehensive treatment and support services, Norton Children’s Cancer Institute will have at its core a sense of urgency not only in bringing newer therapies to accelerate childhood cancer survival rates but also to intently focus on the survivors and alert them to potential risks, including serious and sometimes life-threatening complications, as late effects of cancer treatments.”

Within Norton Children’s Cancer Institute, inpatients will continue to be treated at the Addison Jo Blair Cancer Care Center in Norton Children’s Hospital. For outpatients, the institute will occupy the fourth floor of the University of Louisville’s new 170,000-square-foot pediatric medical office building at 401 E. Chestnut St. The facility is still under construction and is expected to be completed in July 2018.

With more than 8,000 pediatric cancer visits each year, Norton Children’s Hospital is home to the country’s oldest children’s oncology program, continually accredited by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer (CoC) since 1959. As the teaching facility for the University of Louisville School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Norton Children’s Hospital is dedicated to its mission of serving the children of this community and region.

Learn more about the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute .