Your Dollars At Work

How your dollars are “Being the Difference”

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Be the Difference Foundation receives most of its funding from individual donors, foundations, corporations, partnerships and sponsorships at our fundraising events. Our signature fundraising event is Wheel to Survive. Be The Difference Foundation is committed to funding initiatives that help women battling ovarian cancer and providing research dollars for a cure. To date, these initiatives include:

Innovative research
Increasing the availability of clinical trials
Medical support services including personalized tumor profiling and treatment recommendations
Travel cost assistance to clinical trials

With guidance from our Medical Advisory Board we have financially support programs and research at the institutions listed below.

Donations are accepted online by clicking here.

Thank YOU for making this possible.

The Clearity Foundation

The Clearity Foundation seeks to help improve treatment decisions in recurrent and progressive ovarian cancer patients through molecular profiling. This tumor profiling provides the patient with valuable information to determine the most appropriate treatment or clinical trial for the patient once they have recurred. Services are provided at no cost to the patient.

We believe strongly in Clearity’s goal to help women with recurrent ovarian cancer live longer, healthier lives with this individualized approach to therapy selection. We are proud to partner with their efforts to bring hope and personalized medicine to women needing it today.

Mary Crowley Cancer Research

The mission of Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers is to expand treatment options for all cancer patients through investigational vaccine, gene and cellular therapies.

At Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers, there is a belief that a paradigm shift is occurring in cancer care in which personalized molecular medicine will eventually transform the way patients are treated. While their ultimate goal is to cure their patients’ cancer, the ongoing objective is to provide novel agents in innovative ways; thereby, transforming cancer into a manageable condition for patients while maintaining their quality of life. They strive to apply these investigational and innovative therapies early in the course of a patient’s disease where its effect can be optimized and prevent disease recurrence.

Mary Crowley has conducted nine clinical trials for ovarian cancer since 2012 with an additional trial in development that targets MIF macrophage-migration inhibitory factor. Support from Be the Difference enables Mary Crowley to expedite the targeted molecular therapy program specifically designed for ovarian cancer. According to Dr. John Nemunaitis, Mary Crowley Executive Medical Director, “By opening new and more clinical trial options for patients in 2016, Be The Difference Foundation has brought our vision one BIG step forward in ovarian cancer management.”

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Moon Shots Program

Be The Difference is proud to be able to support ovarian cancer research that is being done under MD Anderson’s Moon Shots program. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s moon exploration challenge to America half a century ago, this program – MD Anderson’s boldest to date – seeks to dramatically reduce the mortality of eight cancers initially and eventually apply its unique research model to defeating all cancer. Ovarian cancer is part of a joint Breast and Ovarian Cancers Moon Shot focusing on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) – two cancers uniquely joined by similarities on a genetic level. This initiative promises to significantly reduce the mortality rate and morbidity associated with HGSOC and implement individualized, stratified treatment approaches based on the vast amounts of data available today and enormous technological advancements.

The goals of the MD Anderson Team are:

Deployment of comprehensive genetic testing and intervention for HGSOC patients
Development, refinement and implementation of approaches to tailor surgical intervention
Molecular marker-driven treatment of primary metastatic and recurrent disease
Novel consolidation treatment paradigms
Development of an effective strategy for early detection
Development of programs to improve patients’ quality of life

Prisma Health

At Prisma Health, we’re on a journey to transform the health care experience for our patients and families by living our purpose: Inspire health. Serve with compassion. Be the difference.

Our goal is to create a better state of health by enhancing clinical quality, patient experience and access to affordable care; by conducting clinical research to bring the latest advances to treatments; and by training the next generation of health providers.

UT Southwestern Medical Center

Lazarex Cancer Foundation

Lazarex Cancer Foundation supports end stage cancer patients and the cancer community by providing assistance with costs for clinical trial participation, navigation through clinical trial options, and community outreach and education.

Lazarex is unique in its mission as we focus directly on the needs of end stage cancer patients seeking life through clinical trials. We remove the barriers to participation by addressing informational concerns and financial roadblocks and provide “companion support” allowing patients to travel with a loved one as they go to clinical trial sites for treatment. These efforts allow a patient to concentrate on their health and make decisions based on what is truly best for them rather than deliberating over their financial resources.

Be the Difference Foundation is proud to provide much needed resources for women with ovarian cancer who have run out of treatment options, ensuring assistance accessing breakthrough treatments through FDA clinical trial participation.