The Campion Fund 3807 S Highland Cove Lane, E-15
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84106
January 2021
To our Supporters,
The Campion Fund is very grateful for your generous past support. Some of you have already made a contribution now and for that we thank you. Others have responded to our message that we would start our official campaign after the Presidential Inauguration. Despite Covid-19 and a chaotic political year we have produced monthly newsletters and posted numerous blogs on our website. Unfortunately, some meetings that we planned to support have been postponed but they will occur. We are helping to sponsor the Mammalian Reproduction Gordon Conference in the summer of 2022 and will support a meeting on spermatogenesis produced by a British firm, Fusion Conferences. They will let us know when this meeting will be held. We held our scientific meeting on the Basic Science of Uterine Fibroids with our partner, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences on February 28, 2020 just prior to the pandemic lock downs. Attended by an international group of scientists the meeting provided the venue to discuss many new findings regarding fibroid biology and resulted in a paper published in F&S Science. One result of the meeting was that we were invited to be involved in the planning of a virtual meeting conducted by the Society of Women’s Health Research to assist in understanding where fibroid science stands now and what incentives will help move the field forward.
In 2021 there seems to be light in the darkness going forward. The Campion Fund is making plans to move forward with exciting new programs as well as keeping successful ones. On February 22, 23, 2021 we are hosting along with our partner, Sateria Venable, founded of the Fibroid Foundation, a global fibroid advocacy organization, the Fibroid Summit. This virtual meeting will bring together basic and clinical scientists and fibroid advocates for presentations and discussions. Our hope is that by presenting and discussing current research on uterine fibroids and obtaining feedback from women with fibroids we will start an ongoing dialog that will enhance fibroid treatments in the future. The idea of a collaboration of this nature was inspired by collaborative efforts between survivors of metastatic breast cancer and scientists working in the breast cancer field. The Campion Fund is committed to facilitation of this dialog.
We continue the development of educational material to present the harmful effects of environmental pollution on reproductive health. This educational effort would be aimed toward persons of childbearing age and would include the harm to gonadogenesis, pregnancy, birth and the newborn. We are in the processes of writing and producing short videos on this important subject.
In 2021 we will again provide Campion Awards to junior investigators who present their research at the February 26 annual meeting of the Triangle Consortium for Reproductive Biology. Founded in an area of the United States rich in the number of active reproductive scientists, this regional meeting has highlighted outstanding reproductive research since 1991.
Our programs demonstrate that our efforts to encourage outstanding research in reproduction and in enhancement of the public’s knowledge of this science are bearing fruit. We invite you to make a contribution to the efforts of the Campion Fund. Please make checks payable to The Campion Fund and send them to The Campion Fund, c/o Phyllis Leppert, 3807 S. Highland Cove Lane, E-15, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84106. Or you may contribute through our website here. We hope that you will give as generously as you are able. Reproduction is a very important process for all humankind and it should be as optimal as possible.
Sincerely yours,
Phyllis C. Leppert, Md, PhD
President, The Campion Fund
Professor Emerita of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University