A GIST Day of Learning (GDOL) is a free one-day event to help patients and caregivers learn more about this rare cancer, find support, and enhance their knowledge base to help them navigate their cancer journey. The Life Raft Group has a simple focus: to cure a form of cancer — GIST – and to help those living with it until then. To do this, The Life Raft Group focuses on three key areas: research, patient support & education, and advocacy, which lay the foundation of our mission to ensure the survival of GIST patients through a comprehensive approach connecting individual patients’ needs, the worldwide community of GIST advocates and the global health and research environment.
GDOLs take place across the US at major sarcoma/cancer care centers. GDOLs have been held in NYC, NJ, Boston, Philadelphia, Oregon, Arizona, Chicago, and Columbus, Ohio to name a few.
Interested in having the LRG come to your city for our next GDOL?
Email your ideas to Brian Morello, Director of Development @ bmorello@liferaftgroup.org
Currently scheduled – GIST Summit/GDOL Texas March 21, 2026 – a collaboration between GIST Support International, MD Anderson Cancer Center and The Life Raft Group. This event is currently at capacity. More GDOLs will be on our schedule after Life Fest which is an in-person weekend event happening in Nashville, Tennessee in July this year. Read more about Life Fest 2026.
GDOLs are generally not recorded, however, occasionally an institution has funding to do so or a GDOL might be a virtual event and therefore is recorded. All recordings (webinars, GDOLs, Life Fest) can be found on our YouTube channel.
Recent GDOL recordings include :