Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) is proud to announce the establishment of a major new research partnership with Nicholas Firth and the Jean & Louis Dreyfus Foundation to be known as The Edmée Firth Fund for Research in Ovarian Cancer (EFFROC). Established with an initial gift of $1 million, OCRA will direct the fund toward critical areas of research, including early detection and targeted therapies post-recurrence.
The fund is created in memory of Edmée Firth, who died from ovarian cancer in March 2021. Throughout her illness, she and her husband Nicholas were assiduous proponents of emerging treatments, which led to their commitment to increasing opportunities for further research. The partnership also intends to raise additional funds through a variety of networking and events.
EFFROC’s main focus will be on funding translational research into early detection and targeted second line therapies, designed to minimize toxicity and reduce side effects, since the disease has a high rate of recurrence. With its focus on early detection, EFFROC hopes to improve outcomes and extend the survival rate for those diagnosed with ovarian cancer. EFFROC is also committed to improving awareness of symptoms and risk factors among both the general public and the medical community.
“We are extremely grateful to Nicholas Firth and the Jean & Louis Dreyfus Foundation for their shared commitment to our mission of improving outcomes for those facing an ovarian cancer diagnosis by jumpstarting promising research and hastening desperately needed breakthroughs. Their generosity will continue to support our researchers who, every day, are finding new ways to treat, prevent and ultimately cure ovarian cancer,” said Audra Moran, President & CEO, OCRA.
EFFROC will continue the commitment to service that exemplified the life of its namesake. Edmée Firth was devoted to supporting the arts, health, and social services. As the first Executive Director of the Shakespeare Globe Center North America, she headed the American effort to rebuild Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. Edmée served on the Boards of the MacDowell Colony, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York City Opera, and the Brookdale Center on Aging, as well as the Advisory Board of the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York Council for Weill Cornell Medicine. She was Co-President of the International Friends of the Festival d’Aix en Provence. As Executive Director for 30 years of the Jean and Louis Dreyfus Foundation, she made transformative grants for Aging, Arts, Education and Social Services, supporting programming for underserved audiences, assisting New Yorkers with basic needs, and connecting them to support services to help improve and enrich their lives.
Visit ocrahope.org/effroc to learn more about Edmée and how to donate to the fund.
