The Suzanne Wright Foundation

The Suzanne Wright Foundation was established by Bob Wright, Former Vice Chairman GE & Chairman NBCU; Co-Founder, Autism Speaks, in honor of his wife Suzanne, who died from pancreatic cancer on July 29, 2016. In November 2016, the Foundation launched CodePurple, a national awareness and advocacy campaign to fight pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. With no screening tools, the mortality rate is 92% and has seen virtually no improvement in more than 40 years. Through advocacy and awareness, the foundation's goal is to accelerate discovery of detection tools, better treatments, and ultimately, a cure for pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is one example of the limitations of the current system to address deadly diseases with urgency. Despite decades of medical innovation, millions of Americans with fatal and debilitating conditions have seen no progress. The Suzanne Wright Foundation proposes a national health policy initiative to establish HARPA, the Health Advanced Research Projects Agency. HARPA would exist with HHS and leverage federal research assets and private sector tools to drive medical breakthroughs for diseases, like pancreatic cancer, that have not benefited from the current system. HARPA is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the gold-standard for innovation and accountability. DARPA, an agency within the DoD, developed The Internet, Voice Recognition Technology, GPS navigation, Night vision, Robotic Prostheses, Stealth Technology. DARPA’s success proves there is an effective government model for translating science to product. HARPA’s identical operating principles, built on urgency, high-impact investments and accountability, would advance scientific research “from bench to bedside.” HARPA would work within an innovation ecosystem that includes: the commercial market; biotech and healthcare companies; venture capital and philanthropy; academic institutions; and other government and regulatory agencies.