About

CRC Disease Education, Reimagined

COLONTOWN University is built on the questions, conversations, and experiences of the thousands of colorectal cancer patients and caregivers in our online community, COLONTOWN.

Our professional content team bring lived experience as patients and caregivers to their work to educate their peers.

Learn more about how we created COLONTOWN University from our 2022 presentation for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

All of the resources here are inspired by the information journeys of the members of the more than 120 groups that comprise the COLONTOWN Facebook community. 

Please contact us if you have any questions!

If you are a patient or caregiver, we invite you to join COLONTOWN today to find your people!

Who We Are

A Community of Patients and Caregivers

COLONTOWN is an online community of more than 120 private groups on Facebook for colorectal patients, survivors, and carepartners.

There are separate neighborhoods focused on patients with different stages of disease, the differing types of treatment, and special interests – such as CRC clinical trials, young-onset CRC patients, and local support groups.

Every neighborhood is nurtured by a Neighborhood Host (or several), themselves living the experience. Check out our current list of neighborhoods!

A Nonprofit Dedicated to Community and Education

COLONTOWN University and COLONTOWN are supported by PALTOWN, a nonprofit that creates online communities and empowers patients and caregivers. 

All of our programs are created by the people we serve, including:

  • Empowered Patient Leader Training – where the more than 100 volunteer admins of COLONTOWN learn to lead, mentor, and support their neighbors
  • Second Opinion Project – offering financial support to stage IV patients seeking options
  • Education and support, from CRC101 for the newly diagnosed, to our 9 clinical trials neighborhoods in COLONTOWN.

Additional Support Provided By

Natera
Inaugural Sponsor
BMS logo
Lilly
Seagen
Thermo Fisher
Veracyte