With more than 800,000 new cases of cancer among women in the United States expected this year, according to the American Cancer Society, it remains the second leading cause of death in women. To combat the illness, the Mary Kay Foundation supports research of cancers affecting women at top medical schools and research facilities across the nation with a new slate of grants totaling $1.3 million.
After reviewing an assortment of applicants, 13 grants in the amount of $100,000 each were awarded to some of the most-respected institutions in the country.The 2015 grant slate includes a wide range of critical research areas. At the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, medical scientists will use the grant funds to explore early detection of ovarian cancer using DNA extracted from routine Pap smears. Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo., are studying new tools in preventing and treating cervical cancer. A research project at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa., is determined to identify genetic dissection of breast cancer metastasis.
“While The Mary Kay Foundation’s Cancer Research Grant Program is focused exclusively on cancers affecting women, we know the Foundation’s grants have fueled research benefitting all cancers,” said Michael Lunceford, Mary Kay Inc. Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Chairman of the Board for The Mary Kay Foundation. “By continuing to support top medical scientists at some of the best and most-respected research institutions in the country, we know we are advancing the fight against cancer while continuing Mary Kay’s mission of enriching women’s lives.”
