Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As Fall starts, we are embarking on our annual fundraising campaign. This is our Tenth Anniversary Year and we have great plans to celebrate.
First, we want to thank you for your overwhelming support. You have given generously in the past which has allowed us to carry out our mission to again advance fundamental research in reproductive science. We are now asking for you to contribute to our ongoing work by giving as much as you are able for this Tenth Anniversary Year. Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic which caused us to struggle with diminished contributions, our activities for 2021-2022 have been impactful. We held a virtual Fibroid Summit 2021, and a virtual Fibroid Summit 2022 co-hosted with the Fibroid Foundation, headquartered in Bethesda, MD. These two forums highlighted the science behind uterine fibroid treatments for members and friends of this advocacy group. We also co-sponsored with the Fibroid Foundation Africa headquartered in Ghana, an important first meeting on the science, treatments and myths regarding fibroids for scientists, clinicians and lay advocates to raise awareness of this condition in among the nations of Africa. A total of twelve countries participated in this virtual forum. Fibroids are highly neglected in these countries with unknown prevalence data and very little treatment available. Women in Africa die from the severe anemia and bleeding associated with untreated fibroids. The meeting stimulated the attendees to work together on strategies to overcome the burden of fibroids in their countries. We are pleased that these three meetings ended our three-year emphasis on uterine fibroids.
Our focus for the next several years will be on pregnancy and birth. We have posted blogs on the topic of the health disparities in the USA pertaining to maternal and infant outcomes and will highlight Pregnancy and Birth in upcoming blogs. The Campion Fund will be hosting a meeting in February 2023 on the Basic Science of Gestation and Parturition, along with the Developmental and Reproductive Biology Laboratory at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. We have contacted nine outstanding researchers who will present plenary talks and will be publishing a summary of the meeting proceedings in Biology of Reproduction. Opportunities to present their research as short talks or posters will be available for all attendees.
The Campion Fund Awardees now total 21 individuals. All have remained in the field of science and medicine with a number of awardees now established researchers in outstanding universities and institutions. This year we funded two scientists, Ciro Amato, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at NIEHS and Oleksandr Kirsanov, graduate student at East Carolina University. Dr. Amato discovered a group of cells in the embryo that are important in the development of the penis. If they are altered or absent a serious birth malformation, hypospadias occurs. Mr. Kirsanov found that retinoic acid, which is produced in the body from Vitamin A is not necessary for the initiation of and progression of meiosis in spermatogenesis. This finding changes the previously accepted thinking about this process. As part of our tenth anniversary celebration The Campion Fund will hold a symposium where past awardees will present their current ongoing work. This event will be followed by a Gala Dinner Dance in Durham, NC. Hope to see you there.
We are fortunate to have Sharon Clark as our administrative assistant. Ms. Clark resides in California and has done excellent work for us from that location. In college she majored in biology and then went on to the marketing department of a large hospital in California. Recently we were awarded a Google Ads Grant for Non-profits and are starting to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the Campion Fund and what we do.
Finally, we have produced our three videos: Air Pollution Harms Reproduction. We contracted with Nabu Creative Studios and are extremely pleased with their outstanding work. These ten- minute videos emphasize the harm pollution does to male reproductive health, female reproductive health and then the harm of poor air quality to pregnancy outcomes for mother and baby. We are now soliciting funds to enable us to distribute these videos to the public through doctor’s offices, clinics, schools and churches through direct contact with public health organizations and through online advertising. Campaigns of this nature are costly and thus we urge you to be very generous in your contribution to us for 2023.
Our goal is to also expand our programs and strengthen our organization. We need your support. Please send us your contribution either by sending us a check in the enclosed return envelop or by making a donation through our website, http://campionfund.org We look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Phyllis Leppert, MD, PhD, President
Mark Leppert, PhD, Vice President