Sheryl Crow to headline UC Irvine Anti-Cancer Challenge Celebration Concert

Events to raise funds for life-saving research at Orange County’s only comprehensive cancer center

August 21, 2017

Nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow will headline the “Anti-Cancer Challenge Celebration Concert” to be held Oct. 21, 2017 at the UC Irvine Bren Events Center on the university campus.

The concert will cap the inaugural Anti-Cancer Challenge series of events to raise funds for the UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only place in Orange County where people with advanced-stage or treatment-resistant cancers can access early phase clinical trials involving the very latest therapies.

The initial Anti-Cancer Challenge Weekend event at Angel Stadium on June 10 and 11 featured a series of cycling events, a 5K run/walk and children’s ride that brought together individuals and teams representing community groups, friends, families and companies for one common goal – to end cancer.  More than 6,000 people attended the Anti-Cancer Challenge Festival and 140 teams competed in 10-, 30-, 60- and 100-mile cycling rides across Orange County and a 5K run/walk through Angel Stadium

The weekend races and festivities raised more than $600,000.

“This celebration concert featuring Sheryl Crow is our way of thanking race participants, sponsors and other donors,” said Richard A. Van Etten, MD, PhD, director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Challenge participants will receive concert tickets based on their fundraising support. Those raising $500 or more will receive a ticket, $2,500 or more receive two tickets, and participants raising $10,000 or more will receive two floor tickets. In addition, top fundraisers, current and prospective sponsors will be invited to a VIP reception before the concert.

The UC Irvine Bren Events Center concert tickets are now on sale to the public.

Learn more about participating in the challenge here: www.anticancerchallenge.org

Anti-Cancer Challenge sponsors included: Monster Energy, Ambry Genetics, Hensel Phelps, Hyundai, Pfizer Oncology, Anaheim Ducks, FivePoint, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Angels Baseball Foundation, Brightview Landscape, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Critchfield Mechanical, DPR Construction, FPL and Associates, Jacobs, Geodesign, Genentech, Griffith Construction, Hologic, Lynn Capouya Inc., MA Engineers, Medline, Octapharma, Pacific Ventures Management, PIMCO Foundation, Purequosa, SCMS Sindoni Consulting & Management Services. 

Sponsors providing in-kind contributions include: Beacons Point, California Pizza Kitchen, The Cyclist, Full Psycle, Ruby’s Diner.

The Anti-Cancer Celebration Concert

Sheryl Crow is an American music icon. Her eight studio albums have sold 35 million copies worldwide; seven of them charted in the Top 10 and five were certified for multi-platinum sales. In addition to such No. 1 hits as “All I Wanna Do,” “Soak Up the Sun” and “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” Crow has placed 40 singles into the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Mainstream Top 40 and Hot Country Songs charts, with more No. 1 singles in the Triple A listings than any other female artist. Many artists have collaborated with her on special projects, including the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Smokey Robinson and Tony Bennett.

The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

One of only 48 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only such center serving more than 3 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County.

“Institutions lacking their own research base can quickly follow and adopt advances developed elsewhere, but they cannot lead in the same way comprehensive cancer centers that integrate research with clinical care can,” Van Etten said.  “It is our mission to translate the findings of basic research into treatments that can benefit patients.”

Established in 1989, the UC Irvine Cancer Center first achieved the NCI cancer center designation in 1994, followed by comprehensive designation in 1997. It was renamed in honor of the Chao family as the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and operates fully integrated research, prevention, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation programs. Since 2008, patient access to the center’s more than 300 clinical trials has increased 90 percent.  

In recent years, UC Irvine cancer center members have led practice-changing research and clinical trials that have extended survival in lung cancercervical cancer and metastatic breast cancer and have called attention to the significant disparities that exist in access to the top treatments for ovarian cancer.  

In addition to its primary location at the UC Irvine Medical Center campus in Orange, UCI Health delivers cancer care at the UCI Health Cancer Center – Newport and UCI Health Pacific Breast Care Center, both in Costa Mesa.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, the university has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.