OCMF Annual Awards
In 2023, OCMF established three awards to celebrate the outstanding support
for cancer research we see in our community. OCMF would like to thank the presenters who gave their time to present these awards.
2025 Award Recipients
Award for Outstanding Support for Ovarian Cancer Research
presented to
The Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation
OCMF’s Award for Outstanding Support for Ovarian Cancer Research celebrates organizations and individuals who provide exceptional funding, assistance, and advocacy for Ovarian Cancer Research in their communities. We are pleased to present this year’s award to The Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation, a non-profit organization providing funding for two causes important to the titular Amy Krouse Rosenthal: ovarian cancer early detection research and child literacy.
In its efforts to support early detection in ovarian cancer, the Foundation established Ovarian Cancer Early Detection Research Awards that provide vital seed-funding to promising investigators. In fact, their 2025 award was presented to the University of Chicago’s Ovarian Cancer Laboratory, led by one of this year’s keynote speakers, Dr. Ernst Lengyel. Because each funded pilot project, each awareness resource, each young investigator supported brings us closer to a test, a screening method, or a strategy that can change outcomes. The Amy Krouse Rosenthal Foundation is not just funding research, it’s cultivating hope.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal was known for making the ordinary extraordinary, whether through children’s books, story-telling, or connecting with readers. This Foundation mirrors that: turning what seems small (a symptom, a funding gap, a question in the lab) into something big (early detection, lives saved, research breakthroughs). That spirit of connection, of creativity, of purposeful action shines through their ovarian cancer work.
Award presented by Ernst Lengyel, MD, PhD, Foundation Board Member
Lifetime Achievement Award for Inspiration and Philanthropy
presented to
Kathleen Gavin, MOCA Executive Director (Retired)
OCMF’s Inspiration and Philanthropy Award celebrates organizations and individuals in community outreach providing resources and philanthropic support for cancer research and advocacy for cancer survivors. This year, we’ve turned this into a celebration of lifetime achievement in honor of Kathleen Gavin, former Executive Director of the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.
Kathleen Gavin was MOCA’s first employee and served as the organization’s first Executive Director until she retired in May of 2025, after 23 years of visionary leadership. During her tenure, Kathleen provided strategic leadership to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization and to identify and obtain needed resources. She also served as the senior spokesperson for the organization and as the leader of its grant-making activities.
With a background in women’s health and nonprofit management, Kathleen focused on developing a strong organizational base to enable the newly founded organization to grow and thrive. Under her leadership, MOCA expanded from a small support network founded by a group of survivors in 1999, into a statewide nonprofit serving 1,000 survivors and a network of 50,000 supporters across the US, with a full array of programs encompassing education, support and research.
Kathleen spearheaded awareness and education campaigns that reached thousands, helping women recognize the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer earlier — and empowering healthcare professionals to listen, learn, and act. And through her tireless advocacy, she amplified the voices of survivors at the state and national level, making sure ovarian cancer remained a priority for policymakers, researchers, and the public alike.
Award presented by Melissa Geller, MD, MS, Professor, Gynecologic Oncologist, University of Minnesota
Award for Excellence in
Community Outreach
Gilda’s Club Minnesota
presented to
OCMF’s Award for Excellence in Community Outreach celebrates organizations and individuals focused on providing outreach to their communities in order to expand the understanding and appreciation of biomedical research. This award celebrates advocating for cancer research in communities, providing support to cancer survivors and their families, and pursuing better funding for cancer research. We are pleased to present this year’s award to Gilda’s Club Minnesota.
Following her own cancer diagnosis, former Saturday Night Live comedian Gilda Radner quipped, “Cancer gave me membership in an elite club I’d rather not belong to.” Today that club is Gilda’s Club. From the very first Gilda’s Club in New York City founded in 1995, to today’s network of more than 40 independent and locally-funded affiliates, Gilda’s Club is where membership means connecting with people who truly understand. In the early 2000s, three local residents asked why there wasn’t a Gilda’s Club serving Minnesota, and that momentum led to Gilda’s Club Minnesota opening its doors in 2014.
No one should face cancer alone. These simple words sum up the Gilda’s Club Minnesota’s philosophy. They provide the emotional and social support that is proven to improve overall health outcomes, offering a healing environment where individuals learn from one another while receiving guidance from licensed mental health professionals. Inside the red doors, Gilda’s Club Minnesota is a welcoming community, a place to go for free support for everyone living with any type of cancer, along with their families, friends and caregivers. As an affiliate of the worldwide Cancer Support Community, their program comes with more than 30 years of expertise behind it, a one-of-a-kind, evidence-based program of social and emotional support.
Award presented by Rebekah Pratt, PhD, Associate Co-Director, Masonic Cancer Center
2024 Award Recipients
Award for Outstanding Support for Ovarian Cancer Research
presented to
Tina's Wish
OCMF’s Award for Outstanding Support for Ovarian Cancer Research celebrates organizations and individuals who provide exceptional funding, assistance, and advocacy for Ovarian Cancer Research in their communities. We are pleased to announce this year’s award to Tina’s Wish, which supports groundbreaking scientific research for ovarian cancer early detection and prevention.
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The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research, which funds Tina’s Wish award recipients, was founded in 2008 in the memory of the Honorable Tina Brozman, former chief judge of the SDNY Bankruptcy Court, who died two years after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Tina was not angry she had the disease, she was angry that she did not know sooner.
Too many patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when the tumor has metastasized, making available treatments much less effective. A diagnostic method that could detect the disease at an earlier stage is therefore critical. Since its inception, the foundation has raised over $24 million for its cause. Annually, Tina’s Wish now funds $2.4 million of scientific research for the early detection and prevention of ovarian cancer.
Additionally, the Tina Brozman Ovarian Cancer Research Consortium brings together scientists from world-class institutions to advance research into the early detection and prevention of ovarian cancer. Significant progress has been made in the areas of novel screening techniques, new imaging approaches, mouse models of early cancer development, and immune therapies. Tina’s Wish remains focused on identifying reliable approaches to prevention, screening and early detection in addition to understanding the earliest changes that allow normal cells to turn into cancer.
Award presented by Ronny Drapkin, MD, PhD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Inspiration and Philanthropy Award
Denny Sanford
presented to
OCMF’s Inspiration and Philanthropy Award celebrates organizations and individuals in community outreach providing resources and philanthropic support for cancer research and advocacy for cancer survivors. We are pleased to offer this year’s award to Denny Sanford, a philanthropist and businessman.
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Mr. Denny Sanford’s philanthropic endeavors are profound. In 2007, he made history with his $400 million gift to the Sioux Valley Health System, which became Sanford Health. Later, he provided another $100 million to launch the Edith Sanford Breast Cancer Center, as well as $100 million for Type I diabetes research. His name is on the Stem Cell Clinical Center at the University of California at San Diego, and the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine which brings together scientists from several San Diego-based research centers to look for cures using stem cells. In addition, the Sanford-Burnham-Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla supports many medical research projects.
To date, Mr. Sanford has given more than $1.6 billion. His generosity has been widely recognized and he has received 44 philanthropic honors. He plans to distribute his wealth to at least five more nonprofit organizations. It is my honor to present the OCMF Inspiration and Philanthropy Award to Mr. Denny Sanford. The award will be received on his behalf by vice president of biomedical research at Sanford Research, Dr. Kyle Roux.
Award presented by Paola D. Vermeer, PhD, Sanford Research
Award for Excellence in
Community Outreach
Sanford Promise Lab
presented to
OCMF’s Award for Excellence in Community Outreach celebrates organizations and individuals focused on providing outreach to their communities in order to expand the understanding and appreciation of biomedical research. Advocating for cancer research in their communities, providing support to cancer survivors and their families, and pursuing better funding for cancer research. We are pleased to present this award to Sanford Promise Lab, an outreach arm of Sanford Research.
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Sanford Promise Lab connects the communities in their region with cutting-edge biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research, and is the premiere medical research outreach program in the Great Plains region. Through community engagement and rural outreach, they promote science literacy and contribute to STEM workforce development by building awareness of biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research.
Sanford Promise’s mission is to build community awareness of the importance of research and its critical connections to the standards of patients. They accomplish this through extensive community outreach and engagement reaching individuals as young as kindergarten to senior citizens. The Sanford PROMISE program is dedicated to providing science community outreach that stimulates learners to become critical thinkers, problem solvers, and the innovators of tomorrow.
Award presented by Paul TenHaken, Mayor of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
2023 Award Recipients
Kathleen Gavin, MPH
Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance
Award for Outstanding Support for Ovarian Cancer Research
presented to
OCMF’s Award for Outstanding Support for Ovarian Cancer Research celebrates organizations and individuals who provide exceptional funding, assistance, and advocacy for Ovarian Cancer Research in their communities and across the Midwest. We are pleased to offer the 2023 award to Kathleen Gavin, executive director for the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.
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Formed in 1999 by a group of ovarian cancer survivors, MOCA is a statewide nonprofit organization serving women and families from throughout the Upper Midwest. MOCA’s first staff member, Kathleen Gavin, stepped up as a strategic leader to establish the goals and objectives of MOCA and became its executive director in 2002. She provides strategic leadership to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization and to identify and obtain needed resources. She also serves as the senior spokesperson for the organization and the leader of its grant-making activities. Kathleen was a founding member of the Institute for Sustainable Communities, a nonprofit organization that does environmental work internationally, and worked to build that organization for seven years. She has served on numerous boards and provided consulting services to foundations and nonprofit organizations.
Award presented by Aaron Schilz, MPA, Executive Director MCC, UMN
Inspiration and Philanthropy Award
Randy & Roseann Shaver
Randy Shaver Cancer Foundation
presented to
OCMF’s Inspiration and Philanthropy Award celebrates organizations and individuals in community outreach providing resources and philanthropic support for cancer research and advocacy for cancer survivors. We are pleased to offer this year’s award to Randy Shaver and Roseann Giovanatto-Shaver, Executive Directors from the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund.
The mission of the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund is to support the cancer community in Minnesota by funding research, prevention, treatment and other programs relating to the needs of the cancer community. What makes this Fund so unique is that less than 10% of the monies raised are spent on administrative costs, making it one of the most efficient uses of your charitable donation. Grants given are spent on technology and tools that enhance early detection of cancer, new programs promoting research to help prevent cancer relapses, projects that demonstrate research in the area of cancer, and programs that enhance the lives of Minnesota’s cancer community by providing aid and assistance. With events such as Tackle Cancer, which has raised over $2.9 million since 2012 and the annual Rush Creek/Randy Shaver Golf Classic, which raises thousands of dollars each year, the Fund is a leader in the promotion and funding for cancer research.
Award presented by Dr. Tim Schacker, Vice Dean for Research, UMN Medical School
Award for Excellence in
Community Outreach
Sarah DeFeo, MPA
Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance
presented to
OCMF’s Andrew Godwin Award for Excellence in Community Outreach celebrates organizations and individuals advocating for cancer research in their communities, providing support to cancer survivors and their families, and pursuing better funding for cancer research. We are pleased to present this award to Sarah DeFeo with the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.
The Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance is dedicated to curing ovarian cancer while improving treatments by advancing innovative science, promoting preventive measures, and advocating for, educating and supporting anyone affected by gynecologic cancers to ensure the best possible care and outcomes. It has invested $122M in scientific breakthroughs and helped secure, $3.7B in federal research and education funding.
Sarah DeFeo joined OCRA in November 2008 and oversees OCRA’s grantmaking, programmatic, and educational initiatives. Working closely with the Scientific Advisory Committee, Sarah manages OCRA’s annual grant solicitation and review process, and under her direction applications to OCRA’s three research grant programs have quadrupled. She also directs OCRA’s rapidly expanding patient support program, Woman to Woman, our Survivors Teaching Students program, and all live and web-based patient education initiatives, including the Ovarian Cancer National Conference. Sarah supports the development and communications teams, providing content and ensuring the visibility of OCRA’s research and programmatic activities across all media platforms.
Award presented by Dr. Rahel Ghebre, Vice Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, UMN