Advocacy

MOCA advocates for ovarian cancer research and programs that benefit our community.

Advocacy

MOCA advocates for ovarian cancer research funding in Minnesota and in Washington, D.C.

MOCA is grounded in firsthand knowledge about the issues around ovarian cancer. Part of our mission is to communicate with public officials and advocate for policy changes on behalf of ovarian cancer survivors and women everywhere.

Minnesota Advocacy

MOCA works with the Minnesota branch of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the nation’s leading cancer advocacy organization, to make cancer issues a priority for state policymakers. We encourage you to connect with ACS CAN’s Minnesota Cancer Action Center to find your legislator and learn about current advocacy efforts in Minnesota and nationally.

MOCA is an active member of the Minnesota Cancer Alliance (MCA). The MCA is a coalition of more than 100 organizations from diverse backgrounds and disciplines dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer across the continuum from prevention and detection to treatment, survivorship and end-of-life care.

National Advocacy

On a national level, MOCA is a partner member of the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA), which gives us a presence in Washington, D.C., and amplifies our voice to advocate for research funding and programs at the federal level.

Our coordinated efforts have changed the way the medical establishment, the media, and policy leaders think about ovarian cancer. Each year, MOCA sends a representative to take part in OCRA’s Spring Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.

Research Advocacy

MOCA provides skilled advocates to represent the needs of the patient community to individual researchers, research institutions and consortiums. MOCA staff, board members and volunteers devote time as patient research advocates to the following national research efforts:

  • Mayo Ovarian Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE). This is a multi-year, multi-million dollar research initiative funded by the National Cancer Institute to accelerate ovarian cancer research from the bench to the bedside.
  • NRG Oncology. This is a non-profit research organization formed to conduct oncologic clinical research and to broadly disseminate study results for informing clinical decision making and healthcare policy. MOCA represents patients on the Ovarian and Developmental Therapeutics Committees of NRG Oncology.
  • Stand Up 2 Cancer Ovarian Cancer Dream. This is a 3 year multi-institutional, multi-million dollar collaboration was designed to identify, prevent and treat hereditary ovarian cancer in more effective ways.
  • Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program. A MOCA board member reviews grants for this program that supports high-impact, cutting-edge ovarian cancer research that fills unmet needs.