Special to the Reporter

Mercer Island’s Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research announced that it unlocked $1 million in new money for ovarian cancer research in Washington state, thanks to a successful campaign to raise $500,000 in private funds that will be matched with state money.

A $270,000 gift from Larry Nelson of eastern Washington along with generous gifts from Jerome Pape, Kim Buike, Joyce Benezra, Lynda Gilman, John Laughlin and The Tudor Foundation made the match possible. Nelson, whose gift was announced at the Annual Giving Gala, made his generous donation in memory of his late wife, Irma, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2003, and remains committed to investing in research to end ovarian cancer. Today, because there is no early detection test or cure, fewer than half of women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are still alive five years later.

The Rivkin Center is working in partnership with the state’s Andy Hill Cancer Research Endowment (CARE) Fund, which is providing the public match.

In April, the Rivkin Center and CARE Fund awarded the two $200,000 grants to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the University of Washington; three additional grants will be awarded next spring. These projects focus on early detection, genetic testing and prevention.

“We believe in the power of research to transform lives,” said Molly O’Connor, Rivkin Center CEO. “Our supporters in the greater Seattle community and beyond are the reason we’re able to pursue ambitious goals and fund the brightest minds in the fight against this disease.”

Over the past 25 years, the Rivkin Center has invested $16.5 million globally in the earliest stages of ovarian cancer research and in young ovarian cancer researchers determined to find a cure. Its seed funding often acts as the catalyst for studies that go on to earn millions of dollars from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and life science companies working to advance the science that will end ovarian cancer once and for all.

The organization hosts the prestigious Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium (OCRS) in partnership with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and has consistently been at the forefront of funding innovative research.

The Rivkin Center was founded in memory of Mercer Island resident Marsha Rivkin.