A Humanitarian-Philanthropist & The Lewin Fund Making a Difference in Fighting Women’s Cancers
The Lewin Fund to Fight Women’s Cancers is dedicated to combating the serious challenge facing one in three women and their families — cancer. Founded in 2014 by Dr. Sharyn Lewin, a renowned gynecologic oncologist and Castle Connolly Top Doctor in New York City, The Lewin Fund is a family fund that not only helps women with cancer, but is also committed to wellness and prevention initiatives to keep women cancer free.
This fund began through a generous gift from a woman who lost her battle to uterine cancer. So grateful for Dr. Lewin’s passion to help, she wanted to support expanding Dr. Lewin’s vision and expertise to more people across the nation. The Lewin Fund’s mission focuses on addressing the massive unmet funding needs for research, education, prevention, and support for women with cancer. The fund is particularly focused on underserved communities.
“Not All Cancers Are Pink” is a trademarked slogan of the Lewin Fund. Studies show women’s cancers, other than breast cancer, are poorly funded across the United States. Here are some examples of how The Lewin Fund is making a difference in our area:
SUPPORT SERVICES: New York
First, The Lewin Fund strives to help not just women but also their families, supporting them in a myriad of ways as they face cancer. For example, it funds a transportation program at Mount Sinai Hospital to help women travel for chemotherapy and doctor appointments. It also funds a Bronx-based program, The BOLD Brothers/Sisters Program at Albert Einstein, to support children whose moms and grandmothers have cancer. It supports the Woman to Woman Program at Mount Sinai Hospital, a peer mentoring program.
PREVENTION & EDUCATION INITIATIVES
Second, the Lewin Fund focuses on prevention. It hosts free community events to help educate the community about cancer prevention and wellness. Some of the events include “Own Your Health Power Panels,” “Tell 10 Women Events,” “Latina Summits,” and the “National Education Symposia.”
INNOVATIVE RESEARCH: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
The Lewin Fund supports several innovative research projects, with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, for example. It has also embarked on precision medicine studies, including ones on genetics and immunotherapy.
Steven M. Cohen, Special Advisor
The Lewin Fund has many supporters from all walks of life. The fund’s voluntary board of directors carefully vets proposals for funding opportunities. Special advisors are also on hand to provide insight and support. Steven M. Cohen, a special advisor to The Lewin Fund, explains that partnering with and supporting The Lewin Fund is a deep passion for him. He is committed to helping with fundraising efforts, identifying strategic partnerships, and engaging in community outreach on behalf of the organization. With a background in technology and capital markets, Cohen plans to launch a hedge fund focused on blockchain and digital assets. This fund will have a strategic alliance with The Lewin Fund.
The Forces Behind the Fund
Both the founder and the executive director of The Lewin Fund, Dr. Sharyn Lewin designed the organization’s strategic vision and oversees the operations. She serves as the chief ambassador, at the helm of advancing the mission to invest in grassroots initiatives and research that directly support women who are afflicted with cancer, and their families. She brings more than 20 years of medical research, and community outreach experience to her role and is a long-time advocate for women and women’s health initiatives. Dr. Lewin’s father, Thomas J. Lewin, Ph.D., is the fund’s treasurer. He grows the strategic vision for the fund and supports its operations. He is professor emeritus of international business history at the University of Kansas.
Award-Winning Gynecologic Oncologist Top Doctor NY
A board-certified gynecologic oncologist, Dr. Lewin specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of ovarian, endometrial, uterine, cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancers. She currently serves as the medical director of the New Jersey-based Holy Name Medical Center’s Gynecologic Oncology Division. Dr. Lewin’s expertise includes radical operations for ovarian cancer, including upper abdominal and extended pelvic resections. She has extensive training in minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures and robotic techniques using the da Vinci Surgical System. She has research interests in novel chemotherapeutic agents, including immunotherapy and hyperthermic chemotherapy (HIPEC) for recurrent ovarian cancer.
Mount Sinai Hospital
Dr. Lewin is an assistant clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Prior to that, Dr. Lewin was an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University Medical Center, New-York Presbyterian Hospital. While at NYP, Dr. Lewin was the first medical director of the Woman to Woman Program, a cancer support initiative. She completed her training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Physician of the Year
A national educator on hereditary genetics, cancer survivorship, and state-of-the-art treatment for advanced ovarian cancer, Dr. Lewin has authored or co-authored over 100 articles, abstracts, book chapters, and made many presentations at scholarly conferences. She was selected for the prestigious President’s Award from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology and NYP’s prestigious Physician of the Year Award. She is a Castle Connolly Regional Top Doctor since 2015.
Did you know?
1 in 3 women faces cancer.
Every 6 minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer.
Every 2 minutes a woman in the United States dies from cancer.
Learn about cancer prevention & wellness:
Bergen County Events
w Thursday, October 17, 11 a.m–2 p.m. Women’s Health and Wellness Symposium
Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey
50 Eisenhauer Drive; Paramus, New Jersey
To register, please call The Lewin Fund at 929.224.2293.
w Sunday, October 27, 1 p.m.–3:30 p.m. Updates in Hereditary Cancers and Genetics: Are You at Risk?
Holy Name Medical Center, 718 Teaneck Road; Teaneck, New Jersey
To register, please call 201.833.3392,
or visit holyname.org/geneticssymposium
Look for us at Art Basel Miami Beach in December.
Look for us in the Hamptons next summer at our Own Your Health power-panel event.
The Lewin Fund to Fight Women’s Cancers
thelewinfund.org
