Oracle Helps Susan G. Komen for the Cure Fight Cancer

Nancy Brinker had a promise to keep. In the late 1970s, as her sister Susan Komen neared the end of her two-and-a-half-year battle with breast cancer, she asked Brinker to find a way to cure the disease. Brinker took this request to heart, and a few years later, with just US$200 and a shoebox full of names, she founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

"Our mission, even back then, was to eradicate breast cancer through the funding of education, screening, research, and awareness," says Brinker, now CEO of the charity that bears her sister's name.

Today, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a world leader in the fight to end breast cancer. Since its inception in 1982, the organization has invested nearly US$1.5 billion, making America's largest private funding source for the fight against breast cancer. In 2008, the organization awarded US$100 million in research grants – the largest annual amount slated for research to date.

Oracle made a US$1 million grant to Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 2010. This grant – which includes cash, products, and services – is helping to develop the world's first virtual tissue bank at the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center. The bank will transform tissue specimens into digital data that will become freely available online. Powered by Oracle and Sun technology, the bank will open breast cancer research to anyone with access to the internet.

Oracle President Safra Catz currently serves as a Susan G. Komen for the Cure global ambassador, aiding the organization in its mission to end breast cancer forever.