A Mother's Legacy: How One Woman Transformed Preventive Medicine Forever
Lynne Cohen was not a celebrity, and the foundation that now bears her name is not fueled by star power. Instead the Lynne Cohen Foundation (LCF), founded in 1998 and based in Los Angeles, is inspired and funded by something much more powerful: the love of family and friends who have channeled their desire to make a difference in the lives of women. Dedicated to improving survival rates for women with ovarian cancer, LCF focuses its efforts specifically on the prevention and early detection of women’s cancers, through a network of preventive care clinics, education programs, and by selectively funding research.
The Foundation’s mission, says Amy Cohen Epstein, Lynne’s youngest daughter and the Foundation’s executive director, reflects her mother’s compassionate and philanthropic spirit. “Giving back and helping others is something that came very naturally to both my parents, especially my mother,” says Amy. “She spent most of her time and energy throughout her life focused on the needs of her friends, her family, and people in her community.” Upon her diagnosis with ovarian cancer at age 48, Amy says, Lynne directed her energy toward ovarian cancer advocacy.
“After she passed away,” Amy continues, “it was quite natural for my sisters and me to carry on her mission and try to make a positive impact in the field.” The family’s desire to honor Lynne and to carry on her work resulted in the creation of a foundation that is truly a family affair. Amy serves as president and executive director, while her sisters, Erin and Whitney, and their brother, Robby, serve on the board of directors. Their work, Amy says, is continuously guided by their desire to emulate their mother’s generosity and “to give to other women what our mom ran out of—more time.”
The decision to focus their efforts on prevention and early detection evolved, Amy says, as the sisters learned more about the disease. “Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer and one of the most deadly cancers,” Amy says. “This is due to the facts that there is currently no early-detection test for ovarian cancer and it is often caught in a late stage of the disease, when the chances for survival are not high.” Progress will be made only when an earlier diagnosis is possible. “Ovarian cancer symptoms are vague and often misdiagnosed, and our goal is to provide women with the clinical resources, knowledge, and tools to catch disease early, or better yet, prevent it altogether.
Lynne Cohen Preventive Care Clinics, from USC to NYU, bring a range of physicians, specialists, and counselors together to address the individual needs of patients proactively. These multi-disciplinary teams give at-risk women and their families a path forward, and help shoulder the considerable burden of cancer risk.
Funded by a combination of grants, individual donations, and the proceeds from several annual fundraising events, these clinics make a profound difference in women’s lives. Since 1998 the LCFOCR has donated over $7 million to support research, preventive care, and education for women facing an increased risk of developing ovarian and/or breast cancer. This includes the creation of four preventive care clinics at hospitals throughout the United States: the Lynne Cohen High Risk Clinic at Bellevue Hospital Center, NYU Cancer Institute;; the Lynne Cohen Preventive Care Clinic for Women’s Cancers at USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center; the Lynne Cohen Preventive Care Program at NYU Cancer Institute; and the Lynne Cohen Preventive Care Program for Women’s Cancers at University of Alabama, Birmingham. In addition, in 2005 the foundation established the Lynne Cohen Consortium to collect uniform data on patients seen at any of the Lynne Cohen Preventive Care Clinics for Women’s Cancers. With centralized data readily available for researchers from any of the participating centers, this partnership facilitates cross-institutional research and paves the way for advances in research and prevention.
The Foundation’s educational program, “Peony Project,” was started in memory of Georgia Cord, a long time friend and supporter of the Lynne Cohen Foundation. The Peony Project hosts a series of educational events throughout the year, each focused on a special topic related to women's health, wellness, and cancer prevention. Experts in the field of early detection, prevention, genetics, nutrition, and green living lead open discussions and answer questions in intimate settings. The Project is educational, inspirational, empowering, and potentially life-saving. Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and the men who love them gather at Peony Events to learn from top physicians, women's cancer specialists, and lifestyle experts. The resulting conversations, questions, and insights emerge as profound calls to action, and arm participants with the knowledge necessary to prevent and fight cancer
In addition to prevention and education for women today, the Lynne Cohen Foundation recognizes the importance of research, and selectively funds research deemed most promising by its members and medical advisory board. The most recent of which is the cancer stem cell research being conducted by Dr. Sanaz Memarzadeh in Los Angeles.
In addition to the foundation’s work in the area of prevention, education, and research, the LCF signature fundraising event, KICKIN’ CANCER! (www.kickincancer.com), a 5K run/walk and women’s health expo held each September in Los Angeles, emphasizes the need for awareness and action. Last year’s event drew more than 3,000 participants and spectators and raised more than $185,000 to fund the foundation’s programs. The LCF Web site (www.lynnecohenfoundation.org) also serves as a resource, providing information about warning signs and general information about the foundation’s work.
As LCFOCR has grown, so has Amy’s sense of gratitude for being entrusted with the important mission that the foundation carries out. “I have been given the opportunity to help other women—moms, daughters, sisters, cousins, aunts, friends—who have been touched by the disease make a difference through the Lynne Cohen Foundation,” Amy says. “The bravery and the courage of so many of the women we meet are truly and utterly overwhelming.”
It is the spirit of these women, and of Lynne Cohen herself, that continues to inspire the foundation’s work. “Everything we do,” Amy says, “we do in her name and with the knowledge that she is the inspiration and the drive that keeps us going. She was a woman whose presence and spirit made people’s lives better. We hope the Lynne Cohen Foundation will always do the same.”
For more information about the Lynne Cohen Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research, visit www.lynnecohenfoundation.org