Crowdfunding Cancer Research: Martin (Marty) Smith

Martin (Marty) Smith is a serial entrepreneur and founder of an exciting initiative: Tech Cures Cancer Fund at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Cancer Center. He is also the founder of CureCancerStarter.org, one of the first crowdfunding websites for cancer research, working with five leading cancer research centers. He is also the founder and CEO of Curagami.com, a company whose marketing tools help SMBs curate and gamify content marketing to create profitable and sustainable online community. Oh, and he is also battling cancer.

Marty talks to Get Social Health about the radical change in his life when he heard the words cancer and his name in the same sentence. Realizing that he didn’t have the support group he needed to undergo an intensive cancer treatment he turned to the thing he knew best, the internet, and made his health journey public via social media. Rather than accept his situation as out of his control Marty made it his mission to raise funds for cancer research. The first challenge he undertook was a bicycle trip across the US that raised awareness of cancer known as “Martin’s Ride to Cure Cancer.” As he has battled his chronic case of Lymphocytic Leukemia he continued to challenge himself as a fundraiser and internet visionary by creating not one but two crowd funding foundations to support cancer research.

Listen to Marty’s story and tell me you are not amazed at his dedication, tenacity and resiliency.

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