Established in 1998 by Lynne Cohen’s three daughters, the Lynne Cohen Foundation’s mission is to combat ovarian and breast cancer through preventive care, education, and community.
With a network of comprehensive, multi-disciplinary preventive care clinics, a focus on individual and community education, and a consortium of experts from leading cancer centers around the country all dedicated to early detection and prevention, we seek to increase survival rates and improve the lives of women and families affected by cancer.
OUR CLINICS
OUR STORY
Lynne Cohen was a beautiful and energetic Southern California mom who was dedicated to her four children. She volunteered at their schools, went to all their soccer games, and was a second mom to all their friends. When Lynne was 48 years old, she experienced some irregular spotting and called her gynecologist. During the exam, her doctor felt a mass on one of her ovaries and scheduled an exploratory surgery for the following morning. When Lynne awoke in the recovery room, her husband told her that she had to have a total hysterectomy. Lynne had metastasized ovarian cancer.
Throughout her five-year illness, Lynne made every effort to preserve her children’s sense of normalcy, safety, and home. Her every free moment, however, was spent searching for resources, answers, and treatments. Learning about a disease is a harrowing journey for anyone diagnosed with cancer. For Lynne, it resulted in dismay. She found few answers and even fewer options, and saw that the root cause of this was a distinct lack of funding for research aimed at the prevention and early detection of ovarian cancer. With her usual determination, she set out on a mission to raise funds and awareness for research and for other women and families facing ovarian cancer. She did this even as it became clear that she would lose her own battle.
Shortly after their mother’s death in 1998, Lynne’s children (ages 15-27) created the Lynne Cohen Foundation, which strives to honor Lynne’s legacy of persistence, love, and service in the face of adversity. In order to effectively save and enhance lives, the foundation strategically focuses on early detection, prevention, education, and community. Had Lynne’s disease been caught in Stage 1, her chance of survival might have been as high 94%. BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are associated with increased risk for both ovarian and breast cancer. Because of this inextricable link, the Lynne Cohen Foundation focuses on prevention and early detection for both diseases.
The Lynne Cohen Foundation has grown in both size and scope in order to support at-risk women and families. With a strategic focus on prevention, education, and community, the foundation makes a real and multifaceted difference. It is committed to extending the reach of this difference to more and more families for many more years to come.
OUR TEAM
LCF STAFF
Amy Cohen Epstein
President & Executive Director
Christina Cord Questad
Director, Development
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Amy Cohen Epstein
Erin Berk
Whitney Rosenson Sincoff
Robert Cohen
Nancy Cord
Jenna Grosfeld
Nancy Marks
Kellie Zell
MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD
FRANCO MUGGIA, M.D.*
Professor of Medicine (Oncology), NYU School of Medicine. Co-chair: Gynecologic Cancer Working Group. Member: Phase I/II Working Group and Breast Cancer Program
LYNDA ROMAN, M.D.
Director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine
JULIA SMITH, M.D.
Clinical Director of the Cancer Screening and Prevention Program at NYU Perlmutter Institute
*In loving memory
“The Lynne Cohen Foundation saved my life, and in such a warm, loving atmosphere.”
– CLINIC PATIENT