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Q: Where is AFCR’s Registered Office? AFCR is a legal charity registered in Hong Kong and has obtained tax exemption status from the Inland Revenue Department. Our registered address is: 5/F Dah Sing Life Building, 99-105 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: 2156 9684 Fax: 2156 9685 www.AFCR.org.hk Q: What is AFCR’s Company Tax-Exempt Number? r /> AFCR’s tax case number with IRD is 91/7750. AFCR has a Certificate of Incorporation number with Hong Kong’s Company Registry: 994957. Q: Who is AFCR? AFCR is among the leading nonprofit medical research organizations in Asia dedicated to defeating one of the world’s most deadly killers – cancer. AFCR is a charity registered in Hong Kong that supports innovative, cutting-edge research to accelerate the development of new cancer therapeutics and make these treatments more accessible to cancer patients worldwide. AFCR also provides prevention education publications to help people in Asia, particularly those in the Greater China area, to better protect themselves against cancer. Cancer is not a disease that can be defined by geographic or socioeconomic boundaries. As a result, AFCR proactively facilitates collaborative research programs that improve the lives of Asians and others around the globe. AFCR is a subsidiary organization of the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR), a nonprofit cancer research organization established in the U.S.A. since 1973. NFCR has provided more than $260 million in support of cancer prevention and research programs to scientists and researchers all over the world. With the help of NFCR’s flexible research grants, for the past 33 years, cancer researchers have been able to explore previously uncharted scientific territory and made significant breakthroughs in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of all types of cancer. Q: What is AFCR’s Mission? The Asian Fund for Cancer Research, Ltd. (AFCR) is committed to fighting cancer through research into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. AFCR is dedicated to achieving one of medicine's greatest goals: curing cancer to save lives. We fulfill this mission by funding outstanding scientists across Asia who pioneer cancer research and by providing prevention education programs to the general public, as well as patient services assisting those who otherwise cannot access appropriate high-quality cancer treatment. Q: Why Hong Kong? Hong Kong represents one of the fastest growing and most scientifically-aware populations in all of Asia. The people of Hong Kong have long demonstrated keen interest in supporting research and educational programs that improve the health and well-being of individuals all across Asia, and have expressed serious concern about advancing the state of cancer research in the region. Additionally, well-established intellectual property laws and the cultural diversity of Hong Kong make it the perfect place from which to lead the fight against one of Asia’s most deadly killers. Q: How is AFCR Different from Other Cancer-Related Charities in Hong Kong? AFCR offers a unique approach to combating cancer. In order to achieve our ultimate goal of eliminating this devastating and complicated disease, we believe in the combined power of cancer research and prevention education. We, therefore, are dually focused on the need to both enhance the general public’s awareness of how to protect themselves, and at the same time, to proactively translate discoveries made in the laboratory and quickly bring them to the bedsides of patients. Our program services are separated into two areas: 1. Synergistic collaborations across scientific disciplines: Important breakthroughs in cancer research can occur in the least expected fields. Additionally, we have discovered that synergistic collaboration among scientists is often the key to a successful research project. As a result, beside providing flexible funding for individual innovative cancer research projects, AFCR is working to establish a number of collaboration and communication platforms for our researchers, including international conferences, teleconferencing, intranet websites, and secure e-mail communications. By fostering frequent interactions among our outstanding scientists, resources can be most effectively leveraged, and discoveries can be more quickly translated into new clinical practices that benefit cancer patients. 2. Well-structured cancer awareness education: Understanding the true nature of cancer is just as critical as knowing the importance of a balanced diet and the benefits of regular exercise. AFCR’s public education series provides in-depth, user-friendly informational brochures and documents that clarify the root causes of cancer, provide new updates on anti-cancer drug development, and explain the most recent breakthroughs in cancer research discoveries. Moreover, we provide information to people of all age and gender groups and offer regular suggestions and advice to educate individuals on how to improve their diet and lifestyle, both of which will lead to longer and healthier lives. We hope that by offering accurate medical and scientific information and providing abundant resources to the public, the stress and fear of “getting cancer” can be alleviated for patients and families. In this manner, AFCR works to assure that fewer of today’s healthy individuals will get cancer, and more of today’s cancer patients will become tomorrow’s cancer survivors. Q: What do we support? The contributions received by AFCR are used to support cancer research programs and prevention education initiatives across Hong Kong and other parts of Asia: 1. Bring More Effective Therapies to Patients Faster: Our cancer research programs focus on developing technologies that can be widely and effectively applied to multiple types of cancer. From cutting-edge diagnosis technologies, personalized targeted cancer therapies, and modernizing traditional Chinese herbal medicine, to chemoprevention and science-based diet and nutritional prevention, the impact of our science programs can be found across cancer therapy regimens. We have always believed that for those suffering from cancer, new and effective drugs can never be developed quickly enough. That is why, in addition to supporting innovative and promising research projects, we are dedicated to promoting synergistic collaborations across scientific disciplines that encourage leading scientists to work together to accelerate drug development and move the process more quickly from the discovery phase to the patient’s bedside.
Every other year, AFCR (Hong Kong) and the National Foundation for Cancer Research (USA) organize and co-host an international conference for outstanding researchers and business leaders around the world to address current challenges in cancer research and explore promising opportunities for collaboration. In 2005, this conference was held in Beijing in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The 2007 biennial conference will be held in Hong Kong in partnership with the University of Hong Kong.
AFCR supports cancer research programs that promote the modernization of TCM by conducting thorough preclinical studies, utilizing highly standardized research materials and protocols, and performing rigorously monitored clinical trials according to internationally recognized standards of Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP). AFCR is also a member of the Consortium for Globalization of Chinese Medicine, a Hong Kong based non-profit international organization that promotes the modernization of TCM.
AFCR has established ICRE for training Chinese oncologists to conduct clinical trials in compliance with ICH-GCP. Through partnerships with prestigious US-based research institutions like the Mayo Clinic, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the Yale Cancer Center, ICRE fosters the development of a top quality clinical research network in China to speed the delivery of more effective therapies to cancer patients in Asia and worldwide. 2. Prevention is the best defense: AFCR strives to enhance the public’s awareness of cancer prevention. There are thousands of cancer researchers around the world who dedicate their lives to finding a cure for cancer. However, until a cure is found, cancer prevention is still everyone’s best defense. In order to minimize your risk of getting cancer, we provide regular updates of a wide variety of cancer prevention information.
AFCR publishes cancer prevention health guides to help people reduce their cancer risk through the modification of lifestyle and diet. AFCR’s To Your Health educational series includes monthly e-newsletters, informational brochures on key cancer topics, and semi-annual AFCR newsletters mailed to those interested in learning more about cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Q: Who are the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board Members? Scientific Advisory Board Members Ken Hansen Mien-Chie Hung, Ph.D. Medical Advisory Board Members Ronnie Poon, MBBS, MS, Ph.D. Edward Chu, M.D. Waun Ki Hong, M.D. Ben Yong, M.D.
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