Legacy of Progress Endowment Fund
Why the Legacy of Progress Endowment Fund? • Provides donors with a profound opportunity to make a lasting impact on the lives of melanoma patients for generations. • Allows donors to leverage their support with that of others to accelerate research progress. • Empowers the MRF to amplify our investments in critical grants and initiatives. • Enables the MRF to engage in a dedicated and sustained effort to support investigation into the most daunting medical challenges and foster collaborations in the field. Your funds, entrusted to our Legacy of Progress Endowment Fund, are managed with utmost care, employing conservative and professional expertise overseen by the MRF’s diligent Investment Committee. Why Contribute Now? Given the continued uncertainty of federal support for cancer research, it is more important than ever to have a substantial guaranteed base of funding dedicated solely to research. With this fund, we can guarantee that vital research will not be hindered by political or economic uncertainty and that we can continue the search for better treatments and, one day, a cure for melanoma. Each year, a portion of the Endowment’s income is directed toward bolstering the MRF’s peer-reviewed research grant program. This program is spearheaded by a highly accomplished team of esteemed melanoma clinician-scientists, ensuring that your contribution is strategically utilized to advance our shared mission. Your support isn’t just an investment; it’s a promise of a brighter, melanoma-free future.
The Legacy of Progress Endowment Fund was launched on November 1, 2023 to provide long-term financial support for melanoma research, no matter what challenges the future may bring.
We are happy to announce that, thanks to the incredible generosity of our community, as of January 2026, we have reached $6.5M in funding. In 2025 we were able to give our first grant using funds generated by the endowment investment — Dr. Emily Bernstein’s Established Investigator Award titled, “Investigating
the Role of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Remodeling the Melanoma Tumor Microenvironment.” Dr. Bernstein’s research will examine the complexity of the tumor microenvironment (TME), specifically cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), to better tailor melanoma treatments for melanoma patients.
“I recall talking about the need for recurring revenue and recurring access to research funds. And the best way to go about that is through an endowment, something that throws off income every year so we don’t have to start from zero in our quest for research dollars every year. The concept of a long-term vehicle to fund recurring research is really the goal here. The endowment provides the ability for someone to make an investment that will basically survive long-term, and contribute long-term to research that is going to cure this disease.” — Tom Westdyk, MRF Board Member
“I think that my melanoma experience has really made my mission to move research forward and the endowment was a good investment to do that. More Americans than not are affected by skin cancer but even if
you’re not affected by melanoma directly, the research that goes into melanoma has led to developments in brain cancer, ovarian cancer,
We invite you to watch this brief video featuring Endowment Fund Founders, as they share the immense value of this initiative.
breast cancer. It has really been the proving ground to changing the way we fight cancer.”
— Cheryl Stratos, MRF Board Member
34 • Stewardship Report
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