Partners

OUR MISSION

In 2012, more than 571,000 Americans are expected to die of cancer, and in Michigan, more than 57,000 new cases of cancer are expected this year. Statistics alone don’t convey the pain cancer causes – to grandparents, parents, children and friends. Each of us knows persons who have suffered from these diseases or have been stricken ourselves.

There is hope: fully half of these new cancers can be prevented or detected earlier by enhanced screening, and of course, the earlier cancer is caught, the better the outcome.

In mid- Michigan three major forces are uniting to improve the early detection of cancer: the Aitch Foundation, the Michigan State University health providers of MSU HealthTeam, and MSU athletes and coaches.

The Aitch Foundation is the only charitable organization specifically dedicated to providing direct support to the MSU HealthTeam for research into early cancer detection, focusing especially on devices to aid in this effort. Begun by former MSU basketball player Lauren Aitch in memory of her father, who also played basketball at MSU, the foundation has the support of many mid-Michigan organizations and individuals.

Especially supportive have been current and past MSU athletes, coaches and friends who have banded together to serve as models for the Foundation’s annual signature fund-raising event, the Hidden Key Fashion Show, scheduled next for May 18, 2012. Last year the show netted more than $10,000 for early cancer detection research.

THE HIDDEN KEY FASHION SHOW PARTNERS

LAUREN AITCH
Cancer Research
My grandmother died 8 days before my 2nd birthday, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in the 1960s, and given less that 3 months to live. She was then sent to University of Michigan, she asked the doctors and god for one thing, to live to see her children grown. She was a single mother raising 5 kids two boys and three girls. She lived 23 more years after her visit to UofM, but then was diagnosed in the 1980’s with breast cancer and had to have radical mastectomy. She died at the age of 53 and fought her whole life against this terrible disease. I wish I could have gotten to know this amazing woman who was so courageous and strong. I think about her a lot and how she would want me to lead my life with passion, strength and vision. My aunt Kathy was my mothers sister she was one of the most lively, fun loving, and intelligent women you would ever meet. She was one of my favorite aunts. Her qualities were what I loved the most, she lost her fight with breast cancer last New Years Eve, which was way to early. My uncle Mike has also suffered with brain cancer and is now in remission and continues to fight everyday. Cancer is a disease that touches so many life's and I believe it is nightmare for to many.

Sports
Playing a sport has taken me to places people can only imagine, so my passion for my sport goes deeper than most. Along with my athletic ability I have always carried the knowledge that my sport does not define me as a person but it can and will give me the power to influence. Life is about going beyond yourself, and extending your gifts to help others.

Fashion
Self-esteem is a key factor in all of human success stories – where you build it from is a layout of your life’s journeys, and the people you meet on the way. Whether it be becoming a CEO of a company, speaking up for what you believe in, or fighting through an obstacle you don’t think is possible, self-esteem is what drives you. Fashion and individual presentation is self-expression in its truest form. There are things in every person’s life you can’t change such as height and race. Growing up I found out these characteristics made me different and special. Along my journey I knew because of my difference my individual presentation had to be ME. This is where my desire to design clothing to empower others originated.

Solutions
I feel strongly for the combination of these three passions – Fashion, Sports and Cancer Research. This is why I wanted to bring them together to engage the good people of Lansing to help the fight against Cancer.

THE AITCH FOUNDATION
The Aitch Foundation's Hidden Cancers Fund was set up for Michigan State University HealthTeam to begin research on detecting occult (hidden) Cancers throughout the human body.

Cancer claims more than 1,500 lives every day, and while most Cancers go undetected in the body for too long, breast Cancer is one type of this deadly disease that can be detected early. Because breast Cancer can be most successfully treated in its earliest stages, early detection and the utilization of mammography has lead to better treatment and a significant increase in breast Cancer survivors.

Early detection is a “hidden key” to survival.

MSU HEALTHTEAM
MSU HealthTeam is the multi-specialty medical group practice comprised of teaching faculty from Michigan State University’s Colleges of Human Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, and Nursing. We are continuing to grow, offering primary and specialty health care services to the general public. MSU HealthTeam is comprised of approximately 230 physicians and nurse practitioners from 14 clinical departments, as well as many allied health professionals such as nurses, psychologists, social workers, therapists and nutritionists. MSU HealthTeam providers are also actively involved in teaching and clinical research, keeping them on the forefront of the latest medical advances.

Our providers practice at office locations throughout the greater Lansing area, and serve patients from Mid-Michigan, and beyond. The largest clinical practice location is the MSU Clinical Center, which is located on the MSU campus. This site offers multiple primary and sub-specialty services, as well as a pharmacy, laboratory and radiology services. Our physicians also treat patients at both Lansing area hospitals.

MSU HealthTeam provides the most comprehensive services in Mid-Michigan. We provide the trauma surgeons for Sparrow Hospital’s Trauma Center, the Neonatalogists for Sparrow Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and the only interventional neurology stroke service in Mid-Michigan. Our diagnostic radiology equipment provides the safest and highest quality images available statewide. Through a partnership with Sparrow Hospital, we offer low dose CT, which reduces by up to half the X-ray exposure of our patients. With an onsite radioisotope production laboratory, we uniquely provide PET-CT patients with access to short-lived radioisotopes which render exquisite images of the heart and other vital organs. Our specialty laboratories, including our genetics laboratory provide specialty testing that hospital laboratories refer to us. All of our specialties perform research, which provides the basis for enhancing the care provided to our patients, and ultimately to patients throughout the world as our research is published.

In addition to the sub-specialty services that MSU HealthTeam provides, we also have a significant primary care practice, consisting of pediatrics, family medicine, and internal medicine. All of our primary care offices have been recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan for their success in providing comprehensive care, with a focus on wellness, by designating them as Patient Centered Medical Homes. MSU HealthTeam’s focus on quality has also been recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan, by ranking the HealthTeam’s focus on the appropriate management of chronic diseases, at the top of all practices in the state.

Comprehensive medical/nursing student teaching, cutting edge research, state of the art equipment, highest quality providers – MSU HealthTeam is keeping Mid-Michigan well, now and for future generations.