Causes: Cancer, Diseases of Specific Organs Research, Health

Mission: MOCA's mission is to create an awareness regarding early warning signs that may be indicative of ovarian cancer; to create and promote resources for support, networking and education for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in order to help them in their battle; to unite and educate individuals, the medical community, and organizations to overcome ovarian cancer and to advance ovarian cancer research toward better treatment, diagnosis and a cure.

Programs: Research grants funded:moca increased research funding from $425,000 in 2013 to $528,720 in 2014. Moca pledged $100,000 over the next four years to the national initiative standup2cancer. $100,000 matthew block, ph. D. - mayo clinic $100,000 amy skubitz, ph. D. - university of minnesota $100,000 dan kaufman, ph. D. - university of minnesota $78,720 andrea wahner hendrickson, md- mayo clinic $75,000 melissa geller, md, ms- university of minnesota $75,000 viji shridhar, ph. D. - mayo clinic research details: $100,000 matthew block, ph. D. -mayo clinic: "a pilot study of the safety and immunogenicity of folate receptor alpha peptide-loaded dendritic cell vaccination in patients with advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer. " $100,000 amy skubitz, ph. D. -university of minnesota: "verification of ovarian cancer protein biomarkers in routine pap tests by mass spectrometry analysis. "$100,000 dan kaufman, ph. D. -university of minnesota: "chimeric antigen receptor-directed therapy against ovarian cancer. "$78,720 andrea wahner hendrickson, md -mayo clinic: "identification of protein expression patterns as determinants of response to platinum taxane therapy and recurrent disease. "$75,000 melissa geller, md, ms- university of minnesota: "indoleamine-2-3-dioxygenase (ido) inhibition with incbo24360 and intraperitoneal delivery of allogeneic natural killer cells for women with recurrent ovarian cancer". $75,000 viji shridhar, ph. D. -mayo clinic: "repurposing the anitmalarial drug quinacrine to treat ovarian cancer. "

membership and support:in 2014, moca organized and hosted a wide range of educational and support meetings for women and families impacted by ovarian cancer including; 5 living well/membership meetings on topics important to women and families, 4 moca connections meetings for newly diagnosed women, 5 rise meetings to help those cope with the continuing journey, 6 young survivors meetings to meet the unique needs of young women, 5 rochester area support group meetings and 6 teal survivors meetings for those dealing with recurrences. Moca connects members with mentors to provide critical one on one support and answers the need for support at our office 40 hours per week. Moca's website provides resources, links and survivor stories as well as current research dollars and initiaves funded by moca. During 2014, moca awarded 12 dream awards totaling $34,000 for 2014 and 4 dream awards totaling $16,000 for 2013 to women with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer to help them realize their dreams and create memories with their families and friends while they are able.

awareness, outreach and information:moca drives awareness of ovarian cancer and support for survivors through various public events in 2014 such as the hom teal strides for ovarian cancer (3,500 participants), molly cade golf scramble (125 golfers), moca gala (400 attendees), tie it teal campaign (30 schools and 2,000 pairs of teal laces distributed), spin it teal event, unleash the she expos, 35w bridge and lowry bridge lightings, the moca parade float in several events as well as health fairs, education events and numerous third party events. Moca placed stories about ovarian cancer on all major tv networks and in several print outlets, including the twin cities two daily newspapers. Moca has a strong media presence and produces monthly moca messenger newsletters via email. All of the events and media stories include information about ovarian cancer, it's impact on families and the community and ways to improve survival. Moca partnered with a number of other organizations through the super you collaborative to bring vital cancer prevention information to those at high risk for hereditary cancer.

medical education:moca recognizes the critical role that health care providers play in recognizing the symptoms of ovarian cancer and the importance of appropriate diagnosis and referral to give women the best chance of surviving ovarian cancer. We dedicate a half time staff person to designing and executing outreach programs to the medical community to reach the greatest number of health care providers most effectively with these important health messages through conferences, meetings and programs. Moca facilitates the survivors training students program that educates medical students on ovarian cancer symptoms and diagnosis. Moca's medical education reaches 5 of 6 practitioner programs in minnesota. Moca participated in the following professional conferences; the association of nurse practitioners, mn academy of physicians assistants, mn nurse practitioners and mn oncology nursing services. Moca provided 5 scholarships totaling $7,879 in 2014 to nurses and physician assistants to attend national education conferences to improve their care for women with ovarian cancer through the anita and walter lubov memorial scholarship fund.