Miles for Merak Step Challenge Gains Traction
The event has raised $100,000 for GIST cancer research in two years, with a goal to match that number during the 2022 challenge October 1–7.
Moores Cancer Center nurse Maura Caffrey receives a 2022 Excellence in Stewardship Award for launching the effort in partnership with the family of Merak Melikian Hatounian.
In just a few years since his untimely passing at the age of 25, Merak Melikian Hatounian (1994–2020) has inspired an outpouring of support in the quest to cure gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), a rare cancer that begins in the digestive tract. “Miles for Merak” is a weeklong virtual step challenge initiated by Maura Caffrey, RN and Merak’s care team at Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego Health, which has been championed by Debra Melikian, Merak’s mother, his friends, his family and cancer research supporters across the country. The first two step challenges have raised over $100,000. This funding has helped to fast-track the evaluation of potential new therapies at UC San Diego and led to a clinical trial that is rolling out across the country.
The third annual Miles for Merak Step Challenge will kick off on October 1st and run through October 7th. The UC San Diego community – and everyone interested in supporting cancer research – is invited to participate by registering online, contributing $25 or more, and tracking their fitness activities together during the first week of October. This is an opportunity to join a grassroots effort to speed the way to solutions for a rare disease that otherwise may not receive the funding necessary to make progress toward real solutions. It’s also a way to incorporate more activity into your day, start a friendly challenge among teams of friends and colleagues, and compete for prizes.
The concept of the Miles for Merak Step Challenge came from Maura Caffrey, a nurse from Merak’s care team at Jacobs Medical Center. Debra embraced the idea and recruited friends, colleagues and loved ones to join the cause. It was a way to remember Merak and bring people together during the pandemic, when an in-person event wasn’t an option. Maura’s nursing unit led the charge, joining Merak’s friends and family to raise $35,000 the first year – and then over $70,000 the following year. UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla recognized Maura’s efforts with a 2022 Excellence in Stewardship Award for demonstrating the impact of giving and strengthening philanthropic relationships. Debra and Maura aim to raise $100,000 in the 2022 step challenge, matching the total amount this event has raised thus far.
Debra brought Merak to UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center for his treatment after she met UC San Diego Health surgical oncologist Jason Sicklick, MD, FACS, at The Life Raft Group’s GIST Day of Learning in 2015. About a year earlier, Merak was diagnosed with SDH-deficient GIST, a rare subtype of an already rare form of cancer. That was the day she says changed the course of Merak’s care and all their lives forever. “Dr. Sicklick is a highly skilled surgeon, a translational scientist and the most compassionate clinician I’ve even known.”
The lack of treatment options available to her son has made Debra a “mother on a mission to raise awareness and financial support for GIST cancer research.” In 2016, she challenged Dr. Sicklick to help her find a way to improve outcomes for SDH-deficient GIST patients. They discussed what it would take to establish SDH-deficient GIST cell lines to dramatically strengthen the ability to identify effective therapies for this specific form of cancer. Debra helped raise the funds necessary to bring on a researcher to lead the first-ever culturing of SDH-deficient GIST human cell lines in Dr. Sicklick’s lab. Debra’s drive and determination as a “mother on a mission” remained strong, even after Merak’s passing in 2020. When Merak’s nurse Maura proposed the step challenge, it offered a constructive way to build upon the work Debra had done to support GIST research while also bringing together Merak’s loved ones to support the cause.
With the new GIST cell lines in place, plus a swift infusion of funding from the step challenge that supported studies of these cells, Dr. Sicklick’s team has already tested over 3000 FDA approved drugs and compounds that has led to a short list of the most promising drugs in the fight against SDH-deficient GIST. Their findings led the Food and Drug Administration and Phase One Foundation to support their trials at 4 sites in the U.S. which will help inform future directions in the treatment of SDH-deficient GIST.
“Dr. Sicklick gave me the priceless gift of time with Merak and I am forever grateful to him for that,” says Debra. When you support this work, the connection is so direct to a clinician-scientist who is leading the way in this area of cancer research, and the giving dollars are so impactful. It’s really a chance for all of us to help make a difference in people’s lives and especially the young people affected by this cancer.”
Register for this year’s Miles for Merak Step Challenge by October 1st and increase your physical activity while supporting GIST cancer research at UC San Diego.
To learn more or to join the Miles for Merak Step Challenge, visit https://crowdsurf.ucsd.edu/campaigns/3rd-annual-miles4merak-step-challenge.