Canary Foundation

The Canary Foundation is a non-profit California corporation dedicated to developing a biomarker discovery platform for the early detection of cancer. It was founded in 2004 by former Cisco executive vice president Don Listwin. Its science Team includes Dr. Lee Hartwell, a Nobel Laureate, among its prestigious members, and it has partnerships with a number of world-class cancer research centers including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Stanford University Medical Center, BC Cancer Agency, and the University of California, San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Recently, Canary Foundation and Stanford University announced the commencement of a Center of Excellence for Cancer Early Detection to advance molecular diagnostics with an emphasis in molecular imaging to pinpoint cancer while it is small. Canary pledged $7.5 million, and the Department of Radiology pledged $4 million for a total of $11.5 million dollars for cancer early detection research.

The Foundation is closely associated with the San Jose Grand Prix, and partners with the race for fundraising opportunities. In 2006 race-related activities generated over one million dollars in donations.