The Mary Kay FoundationSM recently awarded $1 million in grants to 10 researchers on the frontline battling cancers that primarily affect women.
The grants, which benefit institutions in Mary Kay’s home state of Texas all the way to Wisconsin and New York, are part of The Mary Kay Foundation’s annual cancer research grant cycle, totaling nearly $24 million since inception.
After reviewing more than 75 applications, The Mary Kay Foundation Research Review Committee awarded $100,000 grants to 10 accredited cancer research institutions. This year’s grant recipients include:
- Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- Stanford University School of Medicine
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
- University of California San Diego
- UT Southwestern Medical Center
- The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
- University of Virginia
- University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
“The Mary Kay Foundation has a two-fold mission: to end gender-based violence and empower researchers to find cures for cancers that primarily affect women,” said Michael Lunceford, president of The Mary Kay Foundation Board of Directors. “Over the past several decades, our research grants have enabled some of the country’s top medical minds to make breakthroughs in treatments that we’re so proud of. Our hope—and belief—is that this year’s grantees will continue that inspiring research trend.”
That research includes innovative studies from scientists like Dr. Hua Yu, Associate Chair and Professor in the Department of Immuno-Oncology at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope. Dr. Yu will use the grant provided by The Mary Kay Foundation to study the opposing roles of PARP and PARG inhibitors in regulating ovarian cancer immune responses. Dr. Paul Lambert, Howard M. Temin Professor and Chair of Oncology at the University of Wisconsin Schools of Medicine and Public Health, will use the funds to research the role of human’s microbiome in cervical cancer. In New York, Dr. Alberto Ciccia, Assistant Professor of Genetics & Development at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will use the funds to study large-scale functional analysis of BRCA1/2 single nucleotide variants.
“By offering continued support for these scientists and institutions,” added Lunceford, “we are continuing Mary Kay’s ultimate goal, which is to better the lives of women everywhere.”
