The TRACER team is thrilled to receive the generous support of the Brave Like Gabe Foundation. The Brave Like Gabe Foundation was founded by the American runner, Gabriele “Gabe” Grunewald, with the goal of supporting rare cancer research and empowering cancer survivors through exercise.
Grunewald was an extremely accomplished professional American runner, who persevered through multiple bouts of cancer during her professional career. In 2009, she was diagnosed with an incurable rare salivary gland cancer called adenoid cystic carcinoma and then continued to run her fastest 1,500-meter time in a collegiate race the next day. Despite the aggressive chemotherapy and surgical operations, Grunewald decided to become a professional runner after college and went on to achieve a fourth-place finish in the 2012 Olympic trials and the 2014 USA Championship title in the 3,000 meters. Grunewald decided to begin sharing her battle with cancer publicly when her rare salivary gland recurred in 2016 and 2017. She became a rare cancer advocate that inspired other cancer survivors to pursue their respective goals and realize bravery in their own way. Grunewald passed away on June 11, 2019, after a 10-year off and on battle with adenoid cystic carcinoma. Her legacy persists through the Brave Like Gabe Foundation.
The Brave Like Gabe foundation is whole-heartedly devoted to supporting rare cancer research, providing research grants to multiple other rare cancer research institutions such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We are immensely grateful to receive funding from the Brave Like Gabe foundation. The funding received will support our research projects on Rhabdomyosarcoma and rare gastrointestinal cancers.