Meredith Vieira just added to the list of things her professional life has in common with that of Katie Couric. She’s leaving her five-year-old Today Show anchor job — one she took over from Couric in 2006 — just as Couric is leaving HER five-year-old gig at CBS. But it’s how the two women’s personal lives intersect that has made their professional lives so similar.

As Vieira leaves the morning show spotlight, it’s to spend more time with her family. that includes husband Richard Cohen, who has spent years battling both multiple sclerosis and colon cancer. And yes, the latter is a disease made famous by none other than Katie Couric.

After losing husband Jay Monahan to colorectal cancer in 1998, Couric began a crusade that included lying down in a doctor’s office and enduring a colonoscopy on live television. She helped launch the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. She saw colonoscopy testing rates in the United States jump by 20 percent, something that the scientific field has credited to Couric herself, naming the prominence of colon cancer in the national mindset “The Couric Effect.” the reach of Today is THAT big. the effect of awareness campaigns THAT good.

As Susan G. Komen Foundation founder Nancy Brinker once told the Stir, there’s never “too much awareness” about cancer. America needed Couric on Today to start the fight against one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States.

On the other hand, there are Cohen and Vieira, who have become increasingly open about their own family’s health struggles, and in turn had an effect on America. Cohen battled and beat colon cancer twice in the ’90s. He published a book, Blindsided, on dealing with both the chronic — multiple sclerosis — and the potentially life threatening — the cancer. She’s made it a point to support health causes, especially cancer causes as the curious creature known as the journalist celebrity (as opposed to the celebrity journalist — quite different). Vieira has kept a conversation started by Couric going.

Americans needed Vieira on Today to keep us fighting.

And now she’s leaving, off to be close to her family, handing over the reigns to Ann Curry as anchor. Cohen is, for all intents and purposes, cured of colon cancer. if you reach the five-year point without a recurrence, the doctors give you a clean bill of health. Vieira’s departure from Today has more to do with her husband’s multiple sclerosis and with their three sons, who are aging out of childhood quickly.

But for five years, where we saw Vieira, we thought “wife of cancer survivor, cancer cause champion.” Losing her isn’t just a blow to folks who loved to see her on TV in the morning. It’s a blow to a cause that depends on awareness to save lives, to encourage people to undergo the icky colonoscopy that can reduce a person’s risk of dying of colorectal cancer by as much as 90 percent.

So how about skipping the moaning and groaning about not hearing Vieira over your morning coffee today. Read up on the symptoms of colorectal cancer and schedule your own colonoscopy or call the Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance and see what you can do to help. until Couric and Vieira make their next moves, the cancer cause needs you.

Image via jakeprzespro/Flickr

Breakthrough On Cystic Fibrosis One Step Closer As New Research Alliance Formed
Article Date: 27 Jan 2011 – 3:00 PST

McGill University and GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) have signed a collaboration agreement to develop a potential breakthrough approach to treat cystic fibrosis, a fatal genetic disease. the trans-Atlantic effort between researchers from McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and their GSK collaborators in the UK, will focus on developing molecules that could treat the disease by correcting the dysfunction caused by the mutated gene. This revolutionary approach will be a departure from current treatments, which only manage the symptoms or complications of the disorder. the collaborative research is co-sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common fatal genetic diseases. It is a multi-organ disease but primarily affects the lungs and digestive system, causing mucous to thicken and leaving patients at higher risk of infections. CF is caused by a mutation in the gene for the protein cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). about 90 per cent of those living with cystic fibrosis have a particular mutant form of this gene, which makes a protein that could still work but has a defect that prevents it getting to the right place in the cell to function correctly.

Dr. David Thomas, Chair of McGill’s Department of Biochemistry and Canada Research Chair in Molecular Genetics, is an expert in protein quality control. Dr. John Hanrahan is Professor in McGill’s Department of Physiology and an expert in chloride transport and epithelial biology. they are uniquely qualified as lead investigators on McGill’s side, having conducted extensive research on the CFTR protein and have identified a number of molecules that look to restore normal CFTR function.

“If we can restore normal function to the mutant cystic fibrosis protein, we can radically transform the lives of millions of children. It will move us from treatment of symptoms to prevention of the disease and would ultimately save lives,” said Dr. Thomas. “We will now be looking at enhancing these small molecules to improve their ability to “rescue” or “correct” the mutant protein, allowing it to reach its proper location and be more active,” added Dr. Hanrahan.

“GSK is excited to be applying our expertise in areas including medicinal chemistry to this innovative area of research,” said Dr. Roberto Solari, head of respiratory biology at GSK. “We hope at the end of this two year collaboration we will have a compound that is be ready to be investigated as a potential new medicine. Collaborations such as these – where we share knowledge, expertise and resource – provide a highly effective way of progressing cutting edge research.”

“This strong collaboration between an industry partner, government granting agencies and the University is a superb example of partners building on mutual strengths and collaborating where our research interests converge,” said Dr. Rose Goldstein, Vice-Principal (Research and International Relations). “We are grateful for the support provided by GSK and CIHR, facilitating our work together to give people with cystic fibrosis a healthy and full life expectancy.” 
“Health research successes in the 21st century will be very much dependent on the ability of organizations from the public, academic and private sector to combine efforts and pool resources,” said Dr. Marc Ouellette, Scientific Director for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Infection and Immunity. “In particular, this grant will increase our understanding of the cellular mechanisms causing cystic fibrosis and provide novel ways of targeting genetic based diseases. Research done through the support of this partnership will add to groundbreaking work done by Canada’s strong Cystic Fibrosis research community, including those funded under the Canadian led Human Microbiome Initiative.”

This research program has funding from both GSK and from an R&D operating grant from CIHR. It builds on previous work carried out with support from the Canadian and US CF Foundations, Génome Québec, CIHR and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). It is the flagship project of a new cystic fibrosis translational research CFTR centre at McGill that has been established with support from the CFI.

About the Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is caused by a single faulty gene that controls the movement of salt in the body. In people with Cystic Fibrosis, the internal organs become clogged with thick, sticky mucus resulting in infections and inflammation making it hard to breathe and digest food. There is no cure for the disease. about one in every 3,600 children born in Canada has CF. Treatment is aimed at controlling symptoms and infections. all disease-causing mutations in the gene for CFTR prevent the chloride channel from functioning properly, blocking movement of salt and water into and out of cells. As a result, cells that line the passageways of the lungs, pancreas, and other organs produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus. This viscous mucus cannot be easily cleared by the body, leading to obstruction of airways and glands and trapping bacteria that give rise to chronic infections.

Source:
McGill University
GlaxoSmithKline
Canadian Institutes of Health Research 
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