Martinis, Makeovers, and a Mission
To benefit the twoAM Fund
About twoAM
When Dana-Farber Trustee Patty Franchi Flaherty first met fellow Trustee Karen Webster at a board meeting in 2005, neither woman knew what a profound impact this pairing would have on their lives. Franchi Flaherty, an ovarian cancer survivor, and Webster, a breast cancer survivor, became fast friends, bound by a love of their Dana-Farber doctors, Ursula Matulonis, MD, and Eric Winer, MD, respectively; a passion for fundraising; and a strong desire to do more to help others battling their diseases.
Event co-chairs and Dana-Farber Trustees Karen Webster (left) and Patricia Franchi Flaherty are fueling the fight against breast and ovarian cancer.
One afternoon, on the fifth anniversary of Webster's breast cancer diagnosis, these two women sipped some coffee and reflected on their cancer experiences. It was in the course of that conversation that they realized that ten times more women are affected by breast cancer than ovarian cancer, and studies indicated a link between the two diseases. The women wondered what could be accomplished if these communities could somehow be brought together to not only bridge the knowledge gap between the two diseases, but use the combined power of this community to further innovative research to help conquer both diseases. Franchi Flaherty and Webster decided that day to create a plan of action to do just that, and, from this plan, twoAM ("two women on a mission") was born.
TwoAM has three simple and straightforward objectives: to unify the communities of breast and ovarian cancer survivors, raise funds to bolster innovative research for both diseases at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and to use this research to explore the links between the two forms of cancer.
Webster and Franchi Flaherty hope that their passion for finding and funding breakthrough approaches to the two most dreaded women's cancers will mobilize thousands more to help make their mission a mandate for a cure.
For more information:
Contact: Lauren Nash
Phone: (617) 632-3863
E-mail: lauren_nash@dfci.harvard.edu
Sponsor
