Foundation Goals

To accomplish our goal of controlling the spread of melanoma, the Foundation proposes several areas of action:

We need your support to pass legislation and to increase funding for research and development. Please sign up to become one of "Charlie's Friends," to create a strong advocacy base.

• Advocacy
  • Development of an overarching global melanoma website to educate patients and caregivers about all aspects of the disease.
  • Installing a melanoma hotline staffed by an oncology nurse and accessible both in the U.S. and internationally.
  • Enabling patients and caregivers to start support groups within their own communities.
  • Providing written materials that can be distributed through oncologists' offices to better help the patient/caregiver understand and cope with melanoma.
    
    
• Research
  • Creation of a melanoma tissue bank consortium to provide fresh frozen primary tissue to bth academic and industry researchers.
  • A biannual international translational think tank, drawing upon a multitude of disciplines within the melanoma community, working in conjunction with industry, to look at innovative ways to fast forward research.
  • Establishment of Melanoma Centers of Excellence encompassing both scientific research and epidemiological research.
    
    
• Federal Legislative Policy
  • Mandating sun safety education for the military and providing sun block at no charge.
  • Mandatory sun safety education for all federal outdoor workers, providing the appropriate personal protective equipment, and providing sun block at no charge.
    
    
• State Legislative Policy
  • Stricter regulation of sun tanning salons concurrent with raising the minimum age and requiring in-person parental permission for all minors.
  • Mandatory sun safety education for grades K through 12;
  • Permitting children to bring and apply sun block at school without a doctor’s permission;
  • Permit children to bring and wear hats during outdoor activities;
  • Inclusion of skin exams on all school physical forms;
  • Construction of outdoor shade structures in all new school facilities;
  • Mandatory sun safety education for all state outdoor workers and the provision of the necessary personal protective equipment.
    

• Federal Legislative Policy
  • Mandating sun safety education for the military and providing sun block at no charge.
  • Mandatory sun safety education for all federal outdoor workers, providing the appropriate personal protective equipment, and providing sun block at no charge.
    
    
• Professional Practice Changes
• Detection of skin lesion education for all primary care physicians in their first year of residency;
• Use of mole mapping for high-risk patients; and
• Insurance reimbursements for skin exams for high-risk patients.
  
  
• Research
  • Creation of a melanoma tissue bank consortium.
  • Establishment of Melanoma Centers of Excellence encompassing both scientific research and epidemiological research.
  • Bring together interested groups such as dermatologists, oncologists, epidemiologists, and public health officials in order to assess the state of melanoma today and where we need to go from here.