To our incredible community of supporters,  

Last fall, I shared a difficult truth: after ten years as your CEO, a 10% survival rate for pancreatic cancer is not progress. It is a wake-up call.  

And yet, the reality is even more staggering. For pancreatic cancer, the survival rate has barely moved in 50 years. While we have seen revolutionary progress in nearly every other cancer, this disease has been met with half a century of silence and stagnation. Fifty years is long enough.  

Today, I am proud to share a major milestone towards changing that history. We have officially evolved from a national charity into Pancreatic Cancer North America (PCNA). I know that with big change comes important questions.  

Why North America? Why Now?  

Pancreatic cancer knows no borders, and neither do we. For too long, our progress has been limited by geography, but a disease this relentless requires a response that is equally unyielding. As a founding member of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition, it is time for us to do more than just our part in Canada—it is time to lead.  

By building a unified North American voice, we are finally matching the scale of our ambition to the scale of the crisis. We are moving beyond local efforts to disrupt the silence, forcing this disease into a global spotlight to demand the investment it has been denied for decades.  

This evolution is about speed. It is about accelerating research by funding cross-border breakthroughs that bring global innovation to pancreatic cancer patients everywhere. By sharing data and resources across the continent, we ensure that a discovery made in a lab in Houston reaches a patient in Calgary faster than ever before. We are no longer waiting for progress to find us; we are going where the innovation is.

Our commitment to you: Canada is our home
I want to be clear with our Canadian donors: your impact remains right here at home. While our reach is now global in scope, our roots are firmly Canadian. Donations made in Canada continue to stay in Canada, fueling Canadian innovation, supporting Canadian patients and their loved ones, and this year, specifically focused on patients in underserved areas across this country.  

We are expanding, not diverting  

This is not about moving resources away from Canada; it is about bringing the best of the world to Canada. We are leveraging global partnerships to ensure our patients have access to the latest clinical trials and most advanced care models available. Every move we make is laser-focused on ensuring pancreatic cancer patients have access to the best treatments, clinical trials, and support systems, regardless of geography.  

Survival, Not Sympathy  

This approach is not for everyone. We have traded hopeful slogans and ribbons for urgency and honesty. We are the first organization to work across borders and the first to admit that what we have been doing isn't enough.  

We are not here for easy. We are here to turn a death sentence into a survivable disease. Thank you for standing with us as we disrupt the silence and demand a future where survival is the norm, not the exception.