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Deborah DeMarco and Joel Gore ride Pan Mass Challenge for cancer research

  Joel Gore and Deborah DeMarco at the Wellesley starting line of the Pan Mass Challenge on Aug. 4.
 

Joel Gore and Deborah DeMarco at the Wellesley starting line of the Pan Mass Challenge on Aug. 4.

UMass Medical School faculty, physicians and avid cyclists Deborah DeMarco, MD, and Joel Gore, MD, raised more than $19,000 for cancer research riding in the 2018 Pan Mass Challenge on Aug. 4 and 5. Funds raised during the annual bike-a-thon go to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. UMass Memorial Medical Center is a member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative.

“PMC 2018 is over and what a ride it was,” said Dr. DeMarco, professor of medicine, senior associate dean for clinical affairs, and associate dean for graduate medical education. “Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers for a safe ride. Thanks to [donors’] generosity, our team exceeded our goal and donations are still coming in.”

The two-member “Guts and Gore” team rode 162 miles from Wellesley to Provincetown. This was the eighth Pan Mass Challenge ride for DeMarco and the second for Dr. Gore, professor emeritus. Prior to Gore’s retirement, he was the Edward R. Budnitz Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. They were among more than 6,000 cyclists supported by 4,000 volunteers at the annual statewide bike-a-thon, which offers a variety of one- and two-day routes. Event organizers noted that 70 percent of this year’s participants are return riders; many riders and volunteers are cancer survivors or current patients.