Chevron and Its Community Patrons Pay It Forward at the Pump to Help Fight Glioblastoma
The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2023, almost 25,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with brain tumors, the most common being glioblastoma, and nearly 20,000 will succumb to their cancers. That’s why more than 30 Chevron locations branded Star Stop and Danny’s Market partnered with Baylor to fuel a new day of hope for young people impacted by brain cancer. From mid-November to the end of December 2022, 5 cents of every gallon purchased from designated Baylor-branded pumps at 33 select stations went to support brain cancer research. The effort raised more than $50,000 from donations made possible by station partners, including the Feroz Panjwani Family (Star Stop) and Danny Zalta (Danny’s Market).
Baylor is a national leader in brain cancer research and patient care, specifically through the work of Ganesh Rao, M.D., Marc J. Shapiro Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, in partnership with Benjamin Deneen, Ph.D., Dr. Russell J. and Marian K. Blattner Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery and director of the Center for Cancer Neuroscience. Together, they are leading Texas’ first Center for Cancer Neuroscience, focused on deciphering how the brain microenvironment influences, and is influenced by, glioblastoma, a type of cancer than can form in the brain or spinal cord. Baylor researchers discovered, for instance, that glioblastoma cells use the nervous system’s neural network as a “highway” to other parts of the brain and hide from the body’s immune system. Leveraging expertise and scientific resources available only at Baylor, Drs. Rao and Deneen are working to uncover causes and identify therapeutic targets leading to better treatments and preventive approaches for glioblastoma.
This work also was supported by the TLC2 Foundation. Foundation founder Terry Chandler was diagnosed with glioblastoma in April 2017 and passed away just three months later. Giving to Baylor helps honor her legacy as well as support critical research.