THE WUNDER PROJECT IS A MOVEMENT CREATED BY ONE DOCTOR AND ONE PATIENT. A movement to get every person involved to change the face of cancer. Contrary to popular belief, IT CAN BE CURED. The only things standing in the way between patients and a cure is money, bureaucracy, and politics. The Wunder Project is creative, forward-thinking, and aggressive. The Wunder Project will not back down until we have raised every last cent of the $250 million dollars needed for the cure and we will ensure that the process will not be held up by inefficiency, middlemen, or red tape. Yes, finding the cure will be nothing short of miraculous. But this is a miracle that we can achieve and a miracle from which we can all benefit. YOU CAN BE PART OF THAT MIRACLE. EVERY PERSON, EVERY DOLLAR, EVERY DISCUSSION COUNTS. Join us in our mission to cure colon cancer. CANCER, YOUR TIME IS UP.
The Wunder Project – Our Capital Campaign
ROADMAP TO THE CURE
Colon cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancers worldwide. Nearly 1.23 million people are diagnosed every year. Sound like an unfair fight? It doesn’t have to be. The cure is at our fingertips. The Wunder Project is simple but revolutionary: every penny raised by The Wunder Project will go to fund RESEARCH and set in motion all of the platforms necessary to finding the cure for colon cancer and creating the blueprint for curing other cancers. Our gifted team will employ a multi-faceted approach to finding the cure. We have outlined the crucial clinical and research-related steps necessary to making essential advances along with organizational and infrastructure-related enhancements that will help us efficiently and effectively achieve our goals.
Meet our smart people
Heinz-Josef Lenz, M.D., FACP
Associate Director forClinical Research
Co-Leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Program
USC Norris Comprehensive
Cancer Center
Michael Kahn, Ph.D.
Professor of BiochemistryKeck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
Peter W. Laird, Ph.D.
ProfessorVan Andel Research Institute
Christina Curtis, Ph.D., M.Sc.
Assistant Professor of MedicineGenetics Co-Director of the Molecular Tumor Board
Stanford Cancer Institute
Graham Casey, Ph.D.
Professor of Preventative MedicineKeck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
Sabine Tejpar, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Clinical Investigator of theFund for Scientific Research
Flanders, Belgium
Alberto Bardelli, Ph.D.
Director, Laboratory ofMolecular Genetic
Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (IRCC) Torino, Italy
Mike Krzyzewski
Head CoachDuke University Blue Devils
Karen Bass
Member of Congress, 37th Congressional District of California
Bob Schieffer
Chief Washington Correspondent; Anchor
Brad Butwin
Chair, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Josep Tabernero, M.D., Ph.D., MSC
Head of the MedicalOncology Department
Vall d’Hebron University Hospital
Barcelona, Spain
Justin Stebbing, M.D., M.A., FRCP, FRCPath, Ph.D.
Professor of Cancer Medicine and Oncology, Consultant Oncologist, Imperial College and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc.
Director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer CenterDistinguished Professor of Urology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Keck School of Medicine
University of Southern California
–ONE MILLION EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS –
In Research Funded by
The WunderGlo Foundation to Date
– MILLION DOLLARS –
In Direct Donations
to The Wunder Project
– PERCENT –
Of All Wunder Project Donations
Go Directly to the Cure
What we’re hearing
Partners and Sponsors
Sponsors for Supporting Our Mission
What We’re Up To
10th Annual annette cook Cancer Warrior Awards Dinner
and Silent Auction, Saturday November 13, 2021
Hilton DoubleTree Hotel – Los Angeles-Downtown
In nine years as an organization, we have given over 1.75-Million Dollars in CRC research funding, leading the charge among colon cancer organizations in grant funding for research.
The Los Angeles Business Journal named
Gloria and The WunderGlo Foundation
“Philanthropist of The Year” for 2015.
The Birth of WunderGlo
In September 2011, The WunderGlo Foundation (a 501(c)(3) organization) was founded by Stage IV colon cancer patient, O’Melveny attorney, and Duke and Stanford Law alum Gloria Borges to empower and inspire those fighting colon cancer, demystify the diagnosis, and support research to eradicate it. The WunderGlo Foundation was named after the blog “WunderGlo,” started by Gloria only weeks after receiving her diagnosis. Gloria’s cancer-killing adventures, described in depth on the blog, have been read by hundreds of thousands of people and sparked Gloria’s activism in the cancer community.
The only California-based colon cancer non-profit of its kind, The WunderGlo Foundation’s mission: it raises funds that go directly to cutting-edge colon cancer research, promotes healthy lifestyle choices to patients and non-patients alike, and empowers and educates patients and caregivers by sharing Gloria’s legacy and advice “from the trenches”.
In early 2013, Gloria launched the foundation’s most ambitious and groundbreaking initiative, a capital campaign called The Wunder Project. Co-Founded with colon cancer expert Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz of the USC-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, this carefully planned $250 million dollar campaign is to fund the research necessary to find the cure. Armed with an international team of world-renowned oncologists and scientists, The Wunder Project’s approach to the cure is comprehensive and cutting-edge.
In January 2014, before Gloria passed away, she passed the baton and the responsibility of this foundation’s goals to her mother, Rebecca Keller. Rebecca continues the work of WunderGlo, to carry on this mission, because of her strong belief in the organization’s goals.
The Foundation thrived in 2015. The Los Angeles Business Journal named Gloria and The WunderGlo Foundation “Philanthropist of The Year” and the Foundation dedicated the G.I. Oncology Lab of Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz for the Cure of Colorectal Cancer at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2014-2015, The WunderGlo Foundation granted $750,000 directly to research for “the cure” of colon cancer and in nine years as an organization, we have given $1.75-Million Dollars in CRC research funding, leading the charge among colon cancer organizations in grant funding for research for the cure.
Our grants have been given to USC-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and to Stanford University Medical School. The Stanford grant was directed to Dr. Christina Curtis that will be used towards urgent work on understanding the mechanisms of colorectal cancer progression. Directly because of the WunderGlo grant, a brand new fund was established in the Stanford Cancer Institute with this appointment given to Dr. Curtis to encourage other donors and organizations to follow our lead in supporting her extremely important work.
WUNDER PROJECT RESEARCH was published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics-October 2015: Companion Diagnostics and Cancer Biomarkers – Polymorphisms in Genes Involved in EGFR Turnover Are Predictive for Cetuximab Efficacy in Colorectal Cancer. Grant Funding Support Credit: H.-J. Lenz was funded by the NCI (award number P30CA014089) and THE WUNDERGLO FOUNDATION. The Lenz laboratory had over 75 peer reviewed publications in 2015 including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research and Molecular Cancer Therapeutics- and over 500 peer reviewed publications, to date. Please consider being part of our movement to find the cure.
In 2016, through Wunder Project funding, new biomarker patents have been filed at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation Reiki & Guided Meditation Program for cancer patients/caregivers in So.Cal both off-site & on-site at USC-Norris Cancer Center. (Free)
On-Line Support Group – called “WunderGlo Chat” -Private offered to patients/caregivers
“The Children of WunderGlo” Programs support children of cancer patients through our Annual Holiday Toy Drive/Distribution & Annual Scholarships to graduating High School Students who have lost a parent to colon cancer & are pursuing their secondary education. 27 scholarships have been awarded to date.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WunderGlo created Love Life face masks that were given for free and distributed to the children of cancer patients throughout the country.
In October, 2022 Southwest Airlines named The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation in the top 2% of non-profit organizations in the country recognized for spreading “Kindness” in our community.
Looking for Ways to Support The WunderGlo Foundation? Start here to shop with Amazon Smile.
And please shop with our Collaborative Partners and a portion of the proceeds go to The Wunder Project.