{"id":41043,"date":"2011-06-14T09:12:11","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T13:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=41043"},"modified":"2011-08-17T14:31:03","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T18:31:03","slug":"first-years-preparing-to-cycle-cross-country-to-fight-leukemia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/06\/first-years-preparing-to-cycle-cross-country-to-fight-leukemia\/","title":{"rendered":"First-years Preparing to Cycle Cross Country to Fight Leukemia"},"content":{"rendered":"
[yframe url=’http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3_EhRNNzCrI&feature=player_embedded’]<\/div>\n
\"From<\/a>
From left: James Alex, Xing Zhu, Greg Hebert and Tom Williams make up the 2011 Coast to Coast for a Cure team. (Photo provided by Lea's Foundation for Leukemia Research)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They\u2019ll land in San Francisco, assemble their bicycles, and set out on a 4,000-mile journey back home.<\/p>\n

First-year medical students James Alex, Greg Hebert and Tom Williams, along with first-year dental student Xing Zhu, make up the 2011\u00a0Coast to Coast for a Cure<\/a> team. The cross-country bike trek to raise money for leukemia research has become a tradition for first-year students at the UConn Health Center.<\/p>\n

The Hartford nonprofit\u00a0Lea\u2019s Foundation for Leukemia Research<\/a> is a philanthropic partner of the\u00a0Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a>, where the\u00a0Lea\u2019s Foundation Center for Hematologic Disorders<\/a> was dedicated in 2007.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are thousands of people afflicted with blood-based diseases every year, especially cancers of the blood,\u201d Alex says. \u201cThis money will be going back into the system to help find cures and help these people live more fulfilling lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first Coast to Coast for a Cure was in 2006. The annual rides have raised more than $100,000 since then.<\/p>\n

\n

Radio Interviews<\/h3>\n

Tom Williams and Xing Zhu on “Face Connecticut,” June 5, 2011<\/a><\/p>\n

James Alex on “Mornings with Ray Dunaway” on WTIC NewsTalk 1080, June 17, 2011<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIn health professions, first and foremost, the primary goal is to help people,\u201d says Zhu, who will be the first dental student to make the trek. \u201cRight now, as first-year students, we\u2019re limited on what we can do to help. I thought that helping raise money for leukemia research is one way to contribute to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The riders leave for San Francisco Saturday, June 18. They already\u00a0started a blog<\/a> and will be updating it when they can.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a friend growing up with cancer, so it touched a nerve with me there,\u201d Williams says. \u201cPlus I love being outdoors, I love adventure, and this fit perfectly with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[yframe url=’http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3_EhRNNzCrI&feature=player_embedded’] They\u2019ll land in San Francisco, assemble their bicycles, and set out on a 4,000-mile journey back home. First-year medical students James Alex, Greg Hebert and Tom Williams, along with first-year dental student Xing Zhu, make up the 2011\u00a0Coast to Coast for a Cure team. The cross-country bike trek to raise money for leukemia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,1,70],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[57,2010],"class_list":["post-41043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uconn-health","category-uncategorized","category-video"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 13:12:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41043"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43215,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41043\/revisions\/43215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41043"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=41043"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=41043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}