BellRinger Weekend 2023 will Unite People Against Cancer

In just a few days, the BellRinger community will be back in action in the fight against cancer with Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. It has been a wild ride over the last few months as our community has been growing with a vast array of new and returning Riders and volunteers. But with less than a week to go, we are excited to continue to welcome new people who will be all the difference in making an impact on ground-breaking cancer research.

Just recently, we announced three new routes for BellRinger 2023 that you can view here. The 25-mile ride is getting a complete makeover with a new finish line at Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, MD. The route will be less hilly and shorter this year, even featuring a short-cut that can cut your ride distance to 19 miles. The 50-mile and 100-mile courses have a new finish line location at Urbana District Park in Urbana, MD. We’ve also made adjustments to the course to make the route more scenic and comfortable for Riders, specifically removing the portion of the route that traced Fingerboard Rd. outside of Urbana, which should reduce car traffic.

While the BellRinger community is training and fundraising, every researcher and physician at Georgetown Lombardi is working tirelessly year round in the fight to end cancer. With $1.45 million in funds raised from BellRinger’s Inaugural Ride in 2022, three research projects received funding:

• Dr. David Robbins is focused on metastatic colon cancer. His lab is building a model to understand the spread of colon cancer and test new and old drugs in a lab setting to enable them to treat a disease we struggle to cure. His work will result in new treatments that will give hope to people who have colon cancer that spreads to other parts of their body.
  
• Dr. Nagi Ayad is working on glioblastoma, one of the most deadly forms of brain cancer. He’s using advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to analyze the genomes of tumor cells and identify new drug combinations to treat each individual tumor.
  
• Dr. Sreejith Nair is studying the fundamentals of cancer cell biology where cancer originates. He aims to better understand what goes wrong at the cellular level when DNA fails to repair or kill a damaged cell, resulting in the growth of cancerous cells. His research will change the way we think about immunotherapy and other novel treatments for cancer.
  
  BellRinger is a way for everyone to do their part to end cancer. Whether you have been affected personally or someone you know has, our stories are connected by cancer, and that’s the problem. If you are unable to Ride with us, we ask that you consider volunteering during BellRinger Weekend at a finish line or rest stop. For more information and to take part in BellRinger 2023, head over to BellRinger.org.
  
  With your help, we will ring the bell on cancer. We hope to see you this fall!