Medical Heroes Appreciation 5K events have been picking up momentum achieving record participation levels and financial support through sponsorships. These events are critical to recognizing the contribution of study volunteers; to raising awareness about CISCRP’s mission; and to generating funds to support CISCRP’s future programs and initiatives. These events may also be helping to improve the physical health and fitness of clinical research professionals who participate!
This spring, CISCRP organized two 5K events – one at the ACRP Global Conference and Exhibition in Salt Lake City on April 25, and one at the DIA 2015 51st Annual Meeting in Washington DC on June 15 — with support from industry leaders including EMD Serono, ACRP, ICON Firecrest, Roche, Biogen, INC Research, and PMG Research. In all, more than three dozen sponsors have committed to supporting these programs.
Hillary Dietz, Head of Sponsor Solutions at Firecrest says sponsoring the 
Medical Heroes Appreciation 5K events helps celebrate trial volunteers in a critical way. “At Firecrest we create videos to help patients and investigators focus on why participating in trials is important and emphasize how pertinent an individual’s participation really is to making medical advances. These Medical Heroes events put the same emphasis on trial participants, which is something we’re happy to support.”
“Participants are heroes in two very important ways: one, because they’re willing to endure discomfort and give up personal time to participate, and two because they do it selflessly, hoping that their participation will mean someone in the future won’t have to suffer with their same medical condition,” says Dr. Daniel Mazzolenis, MD, MBA, Senior Medical Director, Global Oncology-Hematology at INC Research.
Terri Hinkley, Deputy Executive Director ACRP, agrees. “For ACRP, it’s all about our participants; we can’t do the work we do without them. We’re proud to be a part of an event like the Medical Heroes Appreciation 5Ks that gives us an opportunity to thank them for their contribution to our work.”
In 2016, CISCRP will host Medical Heroes Appreciation 5K Run & Walk events at the ACRP Global Conference & Exhibition in Atlanta, GA on April 16 and the DIA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Please contact Ellyn Getz at ellyngetz@ciscrp.org to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.
View the Medical Heroes Appreciation Walk Photo Gallery!