Academy of Endoscopy (click here AOE)

2026 Fundraising Appeal

Colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in people under 50, and the second most common cause of cancer death overall. Colonoscopy plays a central role in preventing, diagnosing, and treating it.

But do you know that most endoscopists learn by doing it on real patients, with a mentor standing next to them? That's how I learned, and it's still how most of the world trains today. In the US it's not great. In places where experienced mentors are scarce, it's much worse.

Other high-stakes fields like surgery, anesthesia, and aviation moved past this kind of bedside-only learning years ago. Simulation works. You practice the hard parts until you're ready, and when you finally do it on a patient, it goes much better. Endoscopy has been slow to catch up.

The Academy of Endoscopy is a growing non-profit that my colleagues and I started to address that. We build simulators. More importantly, we develop the curriculum and teaching methods to use them, grounded in the science of expertise. We also run hands-on workshops for trainees and practicing endoscopists.

Our goal is to make quality endoscopy more accessible — for the endoscopists learning it, and for the patients they care for. That means making endoscopy training more effective and efficient.

A few practical things. The Academy is a US public charity, so US donations are tax-deductible. The easiest way to give from the US is through our GoFundMe page; your receipt comes automatically. From outside the US, please send directly to the AOE account (details below or on endoscopy.guru).

When you give, please add your name and email. We use it only to record who's supported us. We don't share, sell, or send marketing.

One thing about the math: to keep our public-charity status, we have to show broad support from many donors, not just a few big gifts. Our 2026 goal is to reach $50,000 from at least 100 supporters. A $25 gift counts as much as a $2,500 one.

If you can help, thank you. If you know someone else who'd care about this work, please pass it along. More at endoscopy.guru.

Roy Soetikno, MD

Ways to Give

From the US — easiest option:

[GoFundMe link]. Tax-deductible receipt sent automatically.

By US direct deposit or ACH:

Bank: Chase Bank, Redwood City

Account holder: Academy of Endoscopy, Inc.

Account number: 915013012

Routing number: 322271627

(ACH and direct deposit only — not for wires.)

By US wire transfer:

Bank: Chase Bank

Account holder: Academy of Endoscopy, Inc.

Account number: 915013012

Routing number (wires): 021000021

Reference: Donation — [your name and email]

By international wire transfer:

Beneficiary: Academy of Endoscopy, Inc.

Beneficiary address: 350 Ridgeway Road, Woodside, CA 94062, USA

Bank: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.

Bank address: 270 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

SWIFT/BIC: CHASUS33

ABA/Routing: 021000021

Account number: 915013012

Reference: Donation — [your name and email]

Tip: for gifts under about $200, Wise (wise.com) is usually much cheaper than a bank wire. Wise will ask for the same beneficiary, bank, and account details above.

Please include your name and email with your gift so we can record it for our public-support count. We don't share, sell, or use it for marketing.