The Rivkin Center announces $1.185 million in ovarian cancer research grants for 2018

The Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer, a Seattle-based 501(c)(3), announced that it has awarded $1.185 million in ovarian cancer research grants for 2018. The amount funded was a 10% increase from the previous year.

The grant recipients include researchers from the United States, Italy, Australia, and Israel whose research projects focus on topics such as prevention and early detection, DNA repair, chemotherapy resistance and novel therapies including immunotherapy. Sixty-four percent of the awardees are women.

"The projects selected this year have tremendous potential to move the progress of ovarian cancer research forward, and help women live longer, healthier lives," said Joe White, Executive Director of the Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer.

Ovarian cancer is the most deadly gynecological cancer, killing more than 22,000 women in the United States each year. Despite this, ovarian cancer continues to be underfunded by federal funding agencies as compared to other cancers. The Rivkin Center plays a pivotal role in helping the forward progress of ovarian cancer research to improve early detection and discover new life-saving treatments. The Rivkin Center is the largest private funder of international ovarian cancer research and has awarded more than $11 million in grants to-date. Notably, a Rivkin-funded study was the first to identify the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer when none were thought to exist.

2017 Rivkin Center Pilot Study Grant Awardee Dr. Nadine Hempel of the Penn State College of Medicine explains the impact: "If you're an ovarian cancer researcher, you've leaned on the Rivkin Center to advance your research."