UNM SRMC Nurse Shaves His Head to Show His Dedication to Supporting Children’s Cancer Research

Every March for the past 19 years, Roger Tannen, RN, has kept a “can’t-miss” appointment – with an electric shaver, a crowd, and a cause.

Tannen, an emergency department nurse at The University of New Mexico Sandoval Regional Medical Center – A Campus of UNM Hospital (SRMC), has been shaving his head for the annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser to support childhood cancer research.

“When I was first doing it, it was embarrassing,” Tannen said. “I’d get up there on stage and it was very nerve-wracking. But now, it’s a very humbling experience.”

Nineteen years ago, Tannen’s 8-year-old nephew was diagnosed with leukemia. Tannen, a Bernalillo County firefighter at the time, felt helpless. “They lived across the country and I felt like there was nothing that I could do to support my sister or her child,” he said.

That was until he noticed a flyer at the fire station for a head-shaving fundraiser sponsored by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, “I said, ‘Well, I could do that.’”

When I was first doing it, it was embarrassing. I’d get up there on stage and it was very nerve-wracking. But now, it’s a very humbling experience.

Roger Tannen, RN, Emergency Department, SRMC

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a charity that funds research to find cures for childhood cancer, has supported several research projects at UNM Children’s Hospital.

“Our goal is to get as many of our patients as we can into clinical trials,” said Jessica Valdez, MD, MPH, an associate professor in the Division of Pediatric Oncology and UNM’s principal investigator for the Children's Oncology Group, the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research.

“In clinical trials our patients are contributing to science as a whole and helping to move the field forward and move the bar forward,” she said. “It is because of clinical trials that we are where we are today with our advancement in cancer research,” she said.

Research has helped improve childhood cancer survival rates from 10% to 85% over the past 50 years, Valdez said, and St. Baldrick’s has been an important research partner for UNM Children’s Hospital for many years.

“St. Baldrick’s is an amazing organization,” she said. “I personally apply for a grant every single year that helps support clinical trial research. While St. Baldrick’s supports research, they're also really supporting patients and bringing awareness to the cause as a whole.”

Anyone who has ever had a family member who had cancer or had cancer themselves realizes how crucial your hair is. When they lose that hair, it's almost like telling the world, ‘I'm sick,’ or, ‘I'm part of a club that I don't want to be part of.’

Jessica Valdez, MD, MPH, Pediatric Oncologist, UNM Children’s Hospital

Participants in the St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event raise funds leading up to the big day when they sit in front of a crowd for their buzz cut. The family-friendly fundraiser started 25 years ago and has brought in more than $354 million for childhood cancer research all over the world.

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For Tannen, what started as a one-time thing, has now become an annual passion, and over time he’s grown more involved, even volunteering to organize the entire event in Rio Rancho in the past few years. What hasn’t changed is, year after year, Tannen gets up on stage to shave his head.

“It’s humbling when you realize that these children don't have a choice,” he said. “You're left awe-struck, really. Sometimes, when a patient receiving cancer care – an adult or a child – is losing their hair, they're wearing wigs, or they're wearing hats because they're embarrassed. For me to be able to stand up after my head is shaved and say, ‘Look, I did this’ – it’s my way of showing that I care.”

Valdez agrees that the symbolism of shaving one’s head is important to those living with cancer.

“Anyone who has ever had a family member who had cancer or had cancer themselves realizes how crucial your hair is,” she said. “When they lose that hair, it's almost like telling the world, ‘I'm sick,’ or, ‘I'm part of a club that I don't want to be part of.’ Having people support our patients and support children by shaving their heads, it just really makes a statement in bringing awareness to pediatric cancer and bringing awareness to cancer research.”

When the event is over, Tannen takes every opportunity to share the cause.

“My hair doesn't grow back for weeks, months,” he said. “I'll actually wear a pin for a while. It says, ‘Ask me why I'm bald,’ and I can tell them the story, and tell them why it's important.”

And his 8-year-old nephew who inspired it all?

“He is great,” Tannen said. “He’s completely cured. He has several college degrees. He's an adult, living on his own now, and doing wonderful.”