A while back I decided to grow my hair long. It has been in a ponytail for some time now and if you look at my LinkedIn photo, I look nothing like that in person. For years now, my family and my staff have hounded me to change my look. The time has come for me to do exactly that. That’s right, you read that correctly. I am shaving off my hippie hair! I may not even recognise myself once it’s done, let alone anyone else. That is beside the point though. You probably want to know the “why” behind this decision so let me explain.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve watched more and more people around me deal with cancer in some capacity. In some cases, it has hit closer to home than I would have liked. We’ve even designed mouse models to study several types of cancer and test different treatments. Cancer, it seems, is all around us. This year I have decided to participate in the World’s Greatest Shave through the Leukaemia Foundation.

According to the Leukaemia Foundation, over 12,000 people in Australia will be diagnosed with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma or a blood related cancer in 2015. Blood cancers are in the top three causes of cancer death in Australia. Treatments are improving but there is still not one single cure available. The Leukaemia Foundation relies on private donations and events like the World’s Greatest Shave to fund essential research for a cure. I can’t think of a better cause than this to shave my head and raise money to help fight cancer.

We are planning a big event on 22 June 2015 at 1pm to showcase this intense, meaningful and a bit scary (for me anyway), moment in time. Don’t worry; we will record it so that you too, can see the hair go. I think my staff even plan to wax my head once the shaving is done. Hopefully I don’t blind anyone!

It would be great if I could get as much support as possible. I have my mind set on raising $50,000 for this great cause. Please donate to help me out. I promise it will be well worth it and you will be advancing humanity too!

The video will be available to view in my blog at the end of June so stay tuned!

– Frank, CEO –