Phot by Gage Vota Undo’s Restaurants co-owner Anthony “Herk” Sparachane slated to be honored at Ohio Cancer Research’s 30th annual Grand Illusions Saute on May 7.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Undo’s Restaurants co-owner Anthony “Herk” Sparachane will be honored at Ohio Cancer Research’s 30th annual Grand Illusions Saute on May 7.

The annual event recognizes a pillar of the Ohio Valley each year by having peers, friends and family “saute” them in a light roast.

Ohio Cancer Research Executive Director Bill Boggess said he has never met someone from the Ohio Valley who has not at least met Sparachane.

On Tuesday afternoon, OCR held a strategy luncheon at Undo’s West with longtime donors. The event featured a guest speaker, Amanda Panfil, who appeared via Zoom.

Panfil is an assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences at Ohio State University.

Her research focuses on molecular regulation of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1.

OCR awarded her a $60,000 grant from 2021 through 2023.

OCR Director of Research John Yocom said the grant was an early investment that helped launch a program that has since attracted more than $2.5 million in additional funding.

“I’ve always studied viruses that cause cancer, so I spent my graduate career studying a herpes virus that causes cancer, and now I study a retrovirus that causes cancer called HlV one. This type of cancer is pretty rare and studying a rare cancer is difficult. I’m sure everyone has known someone who has a type of cancer that no one’s ever heard of, so funding for cancer is hard, but funding for rare cancer is even more challenging. The resources are limited,” Panfil said. “The reagents that we need to do the work are limited. And so finding funding is really important.”

Boggess added the grant provided by OCR was created to help doctors who are just starting out and has become a gateway for them to receive larger grants.

“The biggest benefit, believe it or not, is the credibility that went with being awarded a grant from Ohio Cancer Research,” he said. “I was shocked and really pleasantly surprised to hear that it is a huge deal. That stamp of approval from an independent group of scientists that says that these are the newest fundable ideas that deserve funding because they’re going to be successful at the next level.”

Since its inception, OCR has funded 178 projects and 174 researchers in Ohio and has awarded $8,564,600, according to Boggess. Those projects and researchers have generated $1,064,266,012 through seed grants.

When choosing this year’s honoree, Boggess said the decision was easy.

“All of our honorees are beloved, but he’s beloved throughout the valley. He knows about every human being in the valley, from what I’ve gathered, and people absolutely adore him,” Boggess said. “He has been doing so much for so many causes over the years and raising money for other charitable activities and organizations that it was long overdue, and ironically, we honored his brother and sister-in-law, Nick and Patti Sparachane exactly 10 years ago. So the timing is good, and he’s going to be another great honoree in a long line of tremendous honorees over the years.”

In 2022, Sparachane was named Italian-American of the Year by the Undo’s Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival.

He said supporting OCR is personal to him, noting he was previously diagnosed with cancer, which resulted in an 88-day stay in the hospital.

“It’s amazing how far they have come in the last 20 years with cancer research, and I like to see them raise some money and keep it going. I can only imagine what can happen in the next 15 years and how many more steps they can take.”

The event begins at 6 p.m. May 7 at Undo’s West. Tickets are available through OCR by phone at 614-224-1127 or by email at ocr@ohiocancer.org

.