Blog Posts

Douglas Flora

Aug 18, 2025, 17:21

Douglas Flora: Create the Things You Wish Existed

Douglas Flora, Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“‘Create the things you wish existed.’

Last night was a special night for me, surrounded by friends and family at our American Cancer Society event. I had the honor of speaking about why we need to continue supporting cancer research—ESPECIALLY NOW.

With shrinking NIH/NCI budgets and declining federal support for cancer research, we’re at a critical crossroads. But this is exactly where the American Cancer Society can step up with the size and scale needed to fill that void.

We’re living in the most promising era in cancer research history:

Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs in protein folding are accelerating drug discovery
AI is revolutionizing how we read scans and detect cancer early
Multi-cancer early detection tests will soon catch 50+ cancer types from a single blood draw

The tools to end cancer are within our reach. Now we need the investment to make it happen.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support this worthy cause. Special recognition to Melanie Schmid, Hannah Wallace, Lenora Oeters, and the entire team for putting on another first-class event.

Thanks also to my wife Andrea Flora, CPA, PFS for her winning bid on some fantastic tickets at the auction—on-field access for the Ohio State Penn State game while I was out of the room!

The money we raised will go directly to support cutting-edge cancer research in our region, working toward our shared goal: ending cancer for everyone.

Every dollar invested in cancer research today is a step closer to the creating the world we wish existed—one where no family has to hear ‘there’s nothing more we can do.’

What will you create?”

Douglas Flora: Create the Things You Wish Existed