OvaCure is a small Danish NGO that works to initiate and promote research in ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is in many ways an overlooked and under-prioritized form of cancer, even though 550 Danish women are diagnosed with the aggressive disease every year. By focusing on more research in the field, OvaCure has made it our mission to accelerate the path to better treatment of ovarian cancer and ultimately find a cure so that no women will die from the disease.
OvaCure was founded in 2014 based on a philosophy that research can be accelerated when collaborations between researchers across disciplines and specialties are established and the disease is thus attacked from different angles. We call this principle the OvaCure Model. The OvaCure Model has shown successful results since our foundation, all our research projects are developed and initiated based on this philosophy.
OvaCure’s founder, Juliane Meulengracht Bang, sadly passed away in 2018 as a result of ovarian cancer. Her legacy remains a strong symbol and continuous driving force in OvaCure’s fight for more research in the field.
OvaCure was founded in 2014 by these three visionary philanthropists and social entrepreneurs with the goal of
finding the cure for ovarian cancer.
Juliane Meulengracht Bang
Co-Founder of OvaCure, DK
MBA, INSEAD and social entrepreneur
Caroline Heering
Co-founder of OvaCure, DK
Director of Ole Kirk’s Foundation
Henriette Svarre Nielsen
Co-Founder of OvaCure, DK
Professor at the University of Copenhagen & Gynecological-Obstetrics Department and
Hvidovre Hospital
OvaCure initiates research projects through innovative partnerships bringing together leading researchers across fields, institutes, both nationally and internationally, and ensures the development and acceleration of promising research projects that can help women with ovarian cancer. These are often innovative projects that the researchers themselves believe show strong promise but which have difficulty obtaining commercial support.
OvaCure has three ambassadors, who advocate for more research within the field of ovarian cancer. As respectively relatives and patient, OvaCure’s ambassadors have all known the disease far too well and their voices and perspectives are imperative in order to emphasize the focus on ovarian cancer.
Partner and lawyer in SEED Capital
Executive Coach, People & Culture Strategic Advisor, PeopleForward
Head of International Department, Parliment
CEO, Maternity Foundation
Active investor & experienced C-level director
OvaCure has established a strong Scientific Board that guides the organization in the best research direction. The Scientific Board is made up of leading researchers from various specialties to ensure diversity, and that ovarian cancer is attacked from many angles.
The OvaCure Scientific Board, therefore, assists as the jury at the OvaCure Innovation Challenge.
The Scientific Board works pro-bono.
Vice President for Translational Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Dr. Bast is i.a. known for the discovery of CA 125. His laboratory focuses i.a. on early detection/screening of ovarian cancer, as well as the role of autophagy (a process in which damaged and/or excess proteins and structures inside the cell are isolated and degraded) in ovarian cancer.
What are your greatest hopes for the future for women with ovarian cancer?
“My greatest hope is that by prevention, early detection, and precision therapy of primary and persistent disease that we can eliminate ovarian cancer as a threat to women worldwide.”
Associate Director, Clinical Research; Director, Oklahoma TSET Phase I Program; Associate Professor, Section of Gynecologic Oncology. Associate Director of Clinical Research and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office for the Stephenson Cancer Center, USA.
Dr. Moore has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and sits on the editorial board of four academic journals. She has a strong interest in clinical research in drug development and phase I trials. Is the first author of the SOLO 1 study.
What are your greatest hopes for the future for women with ovarian cancer?
“My greatest hope is that we develop a screening test that allows us to prevent ovarian cancer in the first place, followed by improving first-line therapies to the point that more than a small fraction of women is cured.”
Head of the Division of Medical Oncology & Hematology, and Medical Director of the Cancer Clinical Research Unit at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada. Dr. Oza has been the principal investigator and co-investigator of more than 100 clinical trials in gynecological cancers, clinical trials in gynecological cancer, and advanced bowel cancer.
He has previously been a member of the National Cancer Institute, the Gynecologic Cancer Steering Committee, and an executive member of The International Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup.
What are your greatest hopes for the future for women with ovarian cancer?
“The greatest hopes for the future of women with ovarian cancer remain improved outcome, quality of life, and breaking down barriers that prevent women from accessing these treatments from across different geographies.
The pace at which science is revealing the underlying biology of this disease and how we can use this information to change therapy at an individual patient level is unprecedented.
The global community is witnessing the evaluation and adoption of novel therapies much earlier as our arsenal of scientific technology continues to grow unlike ever before. My continued hope for the future is that as an international community we focus on revealing more about ovarian cancer biology and use this information strategically to devise accelerated, truly personalized and precision therapies that extend the life and allow women living with cancer to thrive.”
Senior Clinical Oncologist at Vejle Hospital, Lillebaelt University Hospital of Southern Denmark and professor of Clinical Oncology at Institute of Regional Health Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark. Director, Center for Shared Decision Making, Region of Southern Denmark.
Vice-chairman of the Danish Gynecological Cancer Group’s research group and vice-chairman of the Danish Ovarian Cancer Group.
Member of the Danish Comprehensive Cancer Centers (DCCC) Scientific Committee and member of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Faculty for gynecologic cancer.
Member of the Executive Committee of the European Network of Gynecologic Cancer Advocacy Group (ENGAGE) through the European Society of Gynecologic Cancer (ESGO).
What are your greatest hopes for the future for women with ovarian cancer?
“I hope that step by step we will both be able to improve the treatment options so that we can improve both the survival, but also very much the quality of life for the patients so that they can live a life with the least possible symptoms. Furthermore, it is also my hope that we will become better at involving patients in decisions about their care and treatment and asking patients not only what is the matter with them, but what matters most to them.”
Ph.D., Managing Director of the Anticancer Fund, Belgium, and Executive Director of Reliable Cancer Therapies, Belgium.
Dr. Meheus’ work at the Anticancer Fund focuses on finding a cure for ovarian cancer by supporting the development of promising cancer treatments not supported by the pharmaceutical industry, as well as advocating for the sharing of free individual and evidence-based cancer treatment information.
In addition, she has been appointed to sit on The European Commission as a representative of patients in the EMA Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) and is also actively involved in STAMP (European Commission expert group on Safe and Timely Access to Medicinal Products).
What are your greatest hopes for the future for women with ovarian cancer?
“Better treatment of the primary tumor leading to less recurrence, and more treatment options.”
