Septembeard Kicks off National Prostate Health Month at Hopkins

September is National Prostate Health Month and designates a month to increase the awareness of prostate health, provide public health screenings, educate patients and loved ones about prostate issues, and offers a chance to advocate for research and improvements in the way we treat prostate issues.   A number of organizations rally throughout the month of September to meet these goals.  The SEPTEMBEARD (www.septembeard.org) organization was founded in 2011 with the goal to eradicate prostate cancer.  By growing a beard, men around the world can raise awareness, raise funds for research and participate in the fight against prostate cancer.  Check out the Official Septembeard music video below.

The organization was created by Art Wagner, a sales and marketing executive, who was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer.  Mr. Wagner's father had been diagnosed and treated for the disease several years previously.  Therefore, Mr. Wagner set out to raise funds to eradicate prostate cancer before future generations would have to deal with what he and his father endured.  Septembeard generates funds for the best prostate cancer research programs in the United States.

The Johns Hopkins Prostate Cancer Team is fortunate to be one of seven, outstanding research institutions to be funded by Septembeard.  Johns Hopkins has a long history of leadership in diagnosing, treating, and conducting groundbreaking research for prostate cancer.  Notable contributions made by researchers at Johns Hopkins include:

• The radical retropubic prostatectomy was developed by Dr. Patrick C. Walsh at the Brady Institute.  
• The first prostate cancer gene was identified at John Hopkins.  
• The Partin Tables and Han Tables, widely used to predict prostate cancer’s stage and likelihood of recurrence, were developed by our team.  
• Hopkins houses the only urology robotics laboratory in the country. 

Last year's efforts funded a project titled, “Study of Clonal Heterogeneity Among Prostate Cancer Circulating Tumor Cells.” This study is led by Michael Gorin, MD and Research Year Resident at the Brady Urological Institute.  Dr. Gorin is currently sequencing the genome of circulating prostate cells to determine how these cells leave the prostate and develop metastases.

The concept of Septembeard is relatively simple.  Men form teams, grow beards and compete to raise money which is shared among the research institutions.  The team from Hopkins is named Team Hopkins Beards of The Brady and donations can be made at: http://septembeard.org/team/2015/.  In addition, a variety of merchandise is available at the Septembeard.org website (https://septembeard.org/store/) - all proceeds fund research at the elite prostate cancer research centers.

The Brady Residents and members of TEAM HOPKINS BEARDS OF THE BRADY on September 2nd, as Septembeard gets underway.  Support the Brady and Septembeard at: http://septembeard.org/team/2015/ 

There are a number of ways to get involved:

• Visit the SEPTEMBEARD website (www.septembeard.org)
• Or the Septembeard Facebook Site (https://www.facebook.com/Septembeard)
• Create a team and grow a beard
• Donate to an existing team (Team Hopkins Beards of The Brady)
• Check out the merchandise  (https://septembeard.org/store/)
• Spread the word!!!

We thank you for your support and look forward to another great year as we get closer to eradicating prostate cancer!!!