A Year-End Message from FWC Chair Ginger J. Gardner, MD, FACOG

Dear Friends, 

As we approach the end of the year, I am reflecting on the tremendous strides we have made together in the fight against gynecologic cancers in 2024. On behalf of the Foundation for Women’s Cancer (FWC), please know how much we are continuously inspired by your unwavering support and dedication to our mission to support and empower all affected by gynecologic cancers through research, patient education, and public awareness. I am pleased to share that we have many FWC milestones to celebrate this year.   

In January nearly half of the 400+ attendees of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2024 Winter Meeting made donations to the FWC. This represents many specialists in the field making contributions and offering their support to the FWC. The FWC Board voted to match a portion of those proceeds to establish the Inaugural Winter SGO FWC Research Grant, which will be awarded at the 2025 SGO Annual Meeting in March.  

This year, FWC participated in more than fifteen outreach events around the country to #MoveTheMessage by sharing FWC education and awareness materials in Black, Latina, and rural communities, and we have nearly tripled downloads of our educational materials since 2022. 

In addition, the FWC awarded $607,500 total in FWC research grants, awards, and prizes to 16 grant and award recipients and partnered with the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Foundation (AAOGF) and the GOG Foundation to establish the first AAOGF/GOG-F/FWC Career Development Award, which offers three-years of salary support for ground-breaking research by a talented researcher. Further, the FWC is contributing support to the SGO/GOG-F BRIDGES 2.0 scholars to enable the future of clinical trialists and researchers. 

FWC’s 2024 Move4Her campaign launched in March at the SGO Annual Meeting in San Diego. That week, the Institute of Surgical Excellence (ISE) hosted the Celebration of Champions at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA. ISE donated $155,555, symbolic of the five gynecologic cancers, from the proceeds of these events to Move4Her, placing them first on the FWC Move4Her leaderboard. 

Thanks to the talented team captains of over 35 Move4Her peer-to-peer fundraising events from across the country, more than 2,500 participants attended local events that benefited the FWC, including the FWC Move4Her Celebration held in concert with the SGO’s Allied Health Professionals Meeting in Charlotte. Because of these events and the invaluable partnership and support of our Move4Her corporate sponsors, Move4Her created more awareness about gynecologic cancers and raised over $650,000 allowing the FWC to develop more educational resources, participate in more awareness events, and fund more groundbreaking research through research grant recipients like the 2024 Move4Her Grant Recipient, Maggie Mullen, MD, MSCI.

 As we prepare to ring in the new year, we celebrate our new CEO, Kim Hoarle – in her first twelve weeks, she is making measurable impact that enables an incredibly bright future for the FWC and our vibrant community! 

Thank you again for your commitment, passion, and support of the FWC. Whether you are new to the FWC, or you have shared the “purple power” of the FWC among your own friends and community over many years, I am deeply grateful for your commitment and partnership in our work together. The FWC stands in solidarity with our patients, scientists and researchers, providers, nurses, advocates and loved ones, and everyone that needs to know about risk factors, symptoms, and self-advocacy to escalate the prevention and treatment of these diseases. I am so deeply grateful for your dedication and partnership, and I look forward to a brilliant year ahead of collaboration, hope, and incredible impact! 

Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a healthy, fulfilling New Year. 

With heartfelt appreciation,

  

Ginger J. Gardner, MD, FACOG

Chair, Foundation for Women’s Cancer Board of Directors