Kicks off 20th Anniversary with an unprecedented grant award for scientific research and gynecologic cancer patient support program
New York, NY January 13, 2014 — To mark its 20th anniversary, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund has awarded a record-breaking $6.9 million in scientific research grants for ovarian cancer and program grants to support gynecologic cancer patients.
The 22 research grants awarded to 17 institutions include 12 new Ann Schreiber Mentored Investigator Awards, nearly doubling the amount awarded in this grant category last year and further investing in bright young scientists within the ovarian cancer research field.
OCRF’s Ann Schreiber Mentored Investigator Award provides funding for promising trainees working under the supervision of a mentor who is a recognized leader in the field of ovarian cancer research. Grantees are clinical fellows in gynecologic oncology or medical oncology, or post-doctoral fellows, with an M.D. or a Ph.D. degree. With government funding limited and becoming more difficult to obtain, OCRF grants to young researchers encourage interest in the field and help generate critical results which can then be parlayed into larger federal grants. By funding scientists just starting their careers as well as more senior investigators, OCRF effectively and efficiently enhances the breadth and scope of research directed specifically toward ovarian cancer, which leads to more rapid progress.
“This is the most outstanding portfolio of grants in the history of OCRF,” says Jeff Boyd, Ph.D., OCRF’s Scientific Advisory Committee Chair and Board Member, and Senior Vice President, Molecular Medicine at Fox Chase Cancer Center. “These grants focus on a variety of areas, such as factors increasing cancer risk, new approaches to treatment, understanding basic processes of cells and molecular biology, genetics, and strategies to overcome resistance to chemotherapy.”
The Ann Schreiber Mentored Investigator Award recipients, and all of OCRF’s 2014 research grantees, are conducting their important work at prestigious institutions: Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Ohio State University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and Yale University.
Prestigious medical institutions were also the recipients of OCRF’s Woman to Woman Program grants. Launched nationally last year, Ovarian Cancer Research Fund’s Woman to Woman Program pairs gynecologic cancer patients with professionally trained and supervised survivor volunteers who provide one-on-one emotional support and mentoring, as well as promote education and self-advocacy for women in treatment, their partners, families and other caregivers.
“With the support of our national sponsor, QVC, OCRF’s Woman to Woman Program is now serving women with gynecologic cancer and their loved ones at 10 institutions in 7 states, and will continue this growth in 2014 and beyond,” says Audra Moran, CEO of Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. “We’re thrilled to begin our 20th year with such unprecedented and exciting grants for medical research and cancer patients.”
The program has expanded to 4 additional sites that have received new grants: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Tulane Cancer Center, and Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.
