A Decade of Support for Melanoma Research

For 10 years, two Philadelphia residents with a do-it-yourself ethic have gathered friends and family to walk in support of Wistar’s melanoma research.

For the 10th year in a row, Lanier Park in the Gray’s Ferry section of South Philadelphia was filled with nearly 100 walkers donning green and orange shirts emblazoned with “Team Patio” or “Team Elbo.” The group had gathered underneath the Dean’s Bar sign at 29th and Tasker earlier to support Eleanor Armstrong (Team Elbo) and Pat Dean (Team Patio) in the annual Melanoma Walk, which raises funds for Wistar’s melanoma research. Complete with a DJ spinning everything from Bruce Springsteen to Stevie Wonder, the community event featured six lab coat-clad Wistar researchers: Segundo Del Aguila, Yulissa Anali Tirado Gonzalez, and Romina Garavito-Salini Casas of the Villanueva lab; Gatha Thacker of the Herlyn lab; and Shun Li of the Liang lab. Since its inception, the walk has raised more than $125,000 to support Wistar’s research and now reaches far beyond its original South Philadelphia footprint, with donations coming in from nine different states throughout the country.