The Kentucky Chapter of The Cure Starts Now was established in honor of RaiLee Branam.  RaiLee embarked on her short but ferocious one month battle with DIPG on October 6, 2016, at the tender age of 4.  She left us all with just memories of her and her beautiful smile.  RaiRai left an everlasting impression on anyone and everyone she crossed paths with.

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is a brain tumor found in a part of the brain stem called the pons. The pons controls essential bodily functions such as heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, eye movement, eyesight, and balance. DIPG affects children typically between the ages of 4 and 11.  Approximately 200-400 children in the United States are diagnosed with this aggressive, inoperable cancer each year.  DIPG has a five-year survival rate of <1%. 

The Cure Starts Now Cancer Research Foundation (501c3 Federal Non-Profit) is one of the only cancer foundations dedicated to a “homerun” cure for all cancers, starting first with one of the most deadly and difficult cancers: pediatric brain cancer.  Many experts believe that the lessons we learn from fighting pediatric cancer may, in fact, provide us the critical first step in winning the battle against all forms of cancer, both pediatric and adult.  The Cure Starts Now represents a revolutionary new strategy in cancer research, one that fights cancer not according to numbers but instead based on knowledge and research.  And isn’t that the way we’ll ultimately win the battle?  The Cure Starts Now’s mission is one that knows no boundaries and stops at no borders.  It is an international effort of families, friends, businesses and even strangers, united in the desire to cure cancer, one child at a time.