Join me in defeating cancer.

Although my giving page is no longer active, you can still donate. If you would like to provide any additional support, please do so here.

Hi! My name is Max Wilberding, and I am beginning my senior year here at The Ohio State University. I am majoring in Biomedical Science and am finishing up my minor in Creative Writing. My passions in medicine and writing have disseminated into my involvements at Ohio State, which include conducting research in the Roychowdhury Cancer Research Lab, serving as a junior editor of Ohio State's The Journal and even writing a blog from the perspective of an undergraduate researcher. 

Like many others, cancer has infested my life through loved ones. My father lost his mother to cancer when he was but a teenager. My other grandmother has thankfully fought off cancer twice. Through my personal experiences and learning those of others, I know how hard it is to lose someone too soon because of this deadly disease.

Through my role in cancer research, though, I have learned the importance of our work and the hope we can provide patients and families through such a difficult time. Many of our lab’s patients are at an older age where that intergenerational experience of love is so important, and I know our work and that of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) is essential to our progress in building a world without cancer. I myself have been working on a project supported by the OSUCCC - James, and I have made great strides studying the OLFM4 gene in cholangiocarcinoma in the hopes of finding a novel therapy for patients fighting one of the world’s most fatal cancers. My work granted me a Pelotonia Fellowship, and through this organization I have met so many of the passionate and hardworking people of the OSUCCC - James who are fighting for a cancer free world.

It is your support that makes work like mine possible. Many undergraduates and other researchers struggle to obtain the limited funding needed to support their work. Rather than let their projects wither without support, we need to help every passionate researcher further the field of cancer medicine. With your help towards The James Fund for Life, we can build a world where no one loses a loved one too soon, where children meet their grandparents and even great grandparents, where cancer is defeated right here at Ohio State.