Our Story

Meet Nick.

The beginning of the FastTrek Foundation began with one man’s battle towards defeating brain cancer.  Nick Cardi embodies our mantra: #IFightCancer.  He is one of three brothers that own Cardi’s Furniture, a family business (employing approx 500 people in Rhode Island, Massachusetts & New Hampshire) that is known for its philanthropic and community-minded work.  In April of 2015, he was diagnosed with a notoriously-aggressive form of brain cancer.  With a low survival rate and zero FDA approved cures, it was time for Nick and his family to start surveying all of their options for treatment.

Clinical Trials are at the heart of all medical advances.

Clinical trials can most-often be considered cutting-edge medicine.  Right now, thousands of clinical trials with the potential to prevent, cure, extend prognosis, or enhance the quality of life for patients are happening all around the world.  Think about the advancement of technology in the last 10 years – smartphones, tablets, facebook & twitter, blockchain, Watson, AI, supercomputers that could– and did– map the genome…

Now imagine the medical advancements that could be made with the synthesis of that technology and that advancement of understanding of what makes up the body.  The medicine that is coming out these days is the synthesis of these advancements.  We are on the cusp of many medical breakthroughs.

But very few patients ever enroll despite the fact that clinical trials are crucial for the development of new medicines for patients with these diseases (diseases for which the prognosis with the standard treatment is, generally, rather poor).

If clinical trials show so much promise, why is Enrollment so low?

The reason for low enrollment seems to be the very real difficulties of:

1).  Understanding how to navigate the options available

2).  Staying current.

And, through speaking with those affected & afflicted, we have found:

3). Many believe trials cost a lot….  In fact, most if not all trials are FREE for the participant.

Those are the main barriers Nick and his family found.

The Restaurant Anology

Due to the rapid advancement of medicine— among other reasons– the only trials oncologists would typically bring up would be the one(s) available at their particular hospital (and most hospitals don’t have too many).

It makes sense.  You don’t expect the chef at your favorite Italian restaurant to know the menu at your favorite Mexican place down the street.  One needs to go there to get the menu.

It is the same way with hospitals and clinical trials.

But going from hospital to hospital in search of options isn’t a realistic solution.  They knew they wanted all their options to be laid out on the table, but finding clinical trials requires hours of research and organization– and the format can be daunting.

Nick stayed positive.

He continued going to work daily during treatments.  Instead of focusing on his condition and statistics, he focused on the process in which he was engaged, and sought to make it better for others.  With his son (also named Nick), they identified the area where they thought they could make a difference for many people, and they sought to build the infrastructure and develop the technology to help patients, their friends, family, and advocates.  Nick is now over 3 years post diagnosis– a milestone for GBM patients.  He goes in to work 7 days a week, spends time with family, and oversees this project as the chair of the board of directors.

He gave all to so many.

It is with great sadness that we announce that Nick Cardi Jr passed on August 2, 2018.  His memory lives on in many ways.  Here is a video produced by WPRI/FOX 12.

Why focus on MS & Brain Cancer?

Nick’s family is not the only one that found researching clinical trials to be difficult.  Through day to day conversations and through familial experiences, a recurring theme with Multiple Sclerosis emerged.  Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most widespread disabling neurological condition of young adults around the world.  Like brain cancer, the standard of care is not anywhere as effective as people would like it to be, and, as of now, there are zero cures.  Remarkably, MS clinical trials also show poor enrollment rates.

We added COVID-19

With no vaccine and no approved antivirals, enrolling patients in clinical trials for COVID-19 is very important.  Knowledge is power.  Know what trials are available to you in your area.  Knowing which hospital has which trial might be important to you if you have a preference.

Network Effects

It is our belief that combining “unrelated” illnesses such as Brain Cancer & MS can create network effects that speed up mainstream adoption.  In many cases, a person’s familial or personal experience with brain cancer is their first experience.  MS, on the other hand is the most widespread disabling neurological condition of young adults around the world.  Our hope is that we can expand people’s knowledge and have them be better prepared through these uncommon connections.

Inclusivity

At FastTrek.org, we are committed to bridging the gap between patients and clinical trials. For some patients, the gap for accessing this information is larger. Results from clinical trials in the United States undoubtedly show a severe underrepresentation of minority groups. This pattern is unacceptable. Missed opportunities in the clinical trial realm can quite literally mean life and death for individuals. Without a fair demographic representation, the results for the drugs being tested in clinical trials are inadequate. A main priority for the FastTrek.org Foundation is making sure we are being inclusive to everyone and anyone. We want to break down barriers preventing patients from access to information regarding clinical trials and welcome any feedback or suggestions in this area. As of now and for the future, FastTrek TrialTracker will always be completely free and available to everyone.

Ultimately, what we learned, is that:

To provide all options available, we needed software.

Speaking to doctors, we determined that the only way we would be willing to go forward to provide these services would be by providing users with a comprehensive (and FREE) list of all trials available  (not simply ones we think we might like the best- such as immunotherapies).  Reason being: no one knows which trial(s), if any, will be most effective.

We determined that what was needed is software that sources all of the trials on clinicaltrials.gov.  We searched for a while for the coder, and, later, for a user-interface developer… by strokes of synchronicity, we found the folks who were able to provide us with exactly what we needed.

That is what the #iFight Campaign is all about.  We don’t have to be diagnosed to fight these conditions.  We can all use our skills to #iFight Daily.  #iFightCancer #iFightMS

That is how the concept of FastTrek was born.

Our goal is to help patients by reducing barriers to finding clinical trials, thereby boosting enrollment rates, and– ultimately– advancing medicine.
Finding cures is the ultimate goal.