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By Fallon Harrington

Photos courtesy of Holy Name Medical Center

Dr. Sharyn Lewin
Dr. Sharyn Lewin

The Lewin Fund to Fight Women’s Cancers was founded in 2014 by Dr. Sharyn Lewin, a renowned gynecologic oncologist and Castle Connolly Top Doctor in New York City. This fund began through a generous gift from a woman who lost her battle to uterine cancer. Grateful for Dr. Lewin’s help, she wanted to support the expansion of Dr. Lewin’s vision and expertise to more people across the nation.  

The Lewin Fund

The Lewin Fund’s mission focuses on addressing the massive unmet funding needed for research, education, prevention, and support for women with cancer. The fund is particularly focused on underserved communities. The Lewin Fund is a family fund that not only helps women with cancer but is also committed to wellness and prevention initiatives to keep women cancer-free. Lastly, the Lewin Fund strives to help not just women but also their families, supporting them in a myriad of ways as they face cancer. For example, it funds a transportation program at Mount Sinai Hospital to help women travel for chemotherapy and doctor appointments. It also funds a Bronx-based program, The BOLD Brothers/Sisters Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine to support children whose moms and grandmothers have cancer. 

Mount Sinai Hospital

Both the founder and the executive director of The Lewin Fund, Dr. Sharyn Lewin designed the organization’s strategic vision and oversees the operations. She serves as the chief ambassador, at the helm of advancing the mission to invest in grassroots initiatives and research that directly support women who are afflicted with cancer and their families. She brings more than 20 years of medical, research, and community outreach experience to her role and is a long-time advocate for women and women’s health initiatives. It also supports the ‘Woman to Woman’ program at Mount Sinai Hospital, a peer-mentoring program.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

The Lewin Fund supports several innovative research projects, including the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It has also embarked on precision medicine studies, including ones on genetics and immunotherapy.

The Latina Summit

The Lewin Fund also focuses on prevention. It hosts free community events to help educate the community about cancer prevention and wellness. Some of the events include “Own Your Health Power Panels,” “Tell 10 Women Events,” “National Education Symposia,” and the “Latina Summit: The Impact of Cancer On a Family” to be held in NYC (165 W 46th Street) on November 21st.   

Award-Winning Gynecologic Oncologist

A board-certified gynecologic oncologist, Dr. Lewin specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of ovarian, endometrial, uterine, cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancers. She currently serves as the medical director of the New Jersey-based Holy Name Medical Center’s Gynecologic Oncology Division. Dr. Lewin’s expertise includes radical operations for ovarian cancer, including upper abdominal and extended pelvic resections. She has extensive training in minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures and robotic techniques using the da Vinci Surgical System. She has research interests in novel chemotherapeutic agents, including immunotherapy and hyperthermic chemotherapy (HIPEC) for recurrent ovarian cancer.

The Lewin Fund Battles to End Women's Cancers
Dr. Sharyn Lewin performs robotic surgery with the Da Vinci Robot in Holy Name Medical Center. 2/6/17 Photo by Jeff Rhode /Holy Name Medical Center

Education & Experience

Dr. Lewin is an assistant clinical professor at Mount Sinai Hospital. Prior to that, Dr. Lewin was an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University Medical Center, New-York Presbyterian Hospital. While at NYP, Dr. Lewin was the first medical director of the Woman to Woman Program, a cancer support initiative. She completed her training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. 

Physician of the Year

A national educator on hereditary genetics, cancer survivorship and state-of-the-art treatment for advanced ovarian cancer, Dr. Lewin has authored or co-authored over 100 articles, abstracts, book chapters, and made many presentations at scholarly conferences. She was selected for the prestigious President’s Award from the Society of Gynecologic Oncology and NYP’s prestigious Physician of the Year Award. She is a Castle Connolly Regional Top Doctor since 2015. thelewlinfund.org 

Dr. Sharyn Lewin

Steven M. Cohen, Special Advisor

The Lewin Fund has many supporters from all walks of life. The fund’s voluntary board of directors carefully vets proposals for funding opportunities. Special advisors are also on hand to provide insight and support. Steven M.  Cohen, a special advisor to The Lewin Fund, explains that partnering with and supporting The Lewin Fund is a deep passion for him. He is committed to helping with fundraising efforts, identifying strategic partnerships, and engaging in community outreach on behalf of the organization. With a background in technology and capital markets, Cohen plans to launch a hedge fund focused on blockchain and digital assets. This fund will have a strategic alliance with The Lewin Fund. Studies show women’s cancers, other than breast cancer, are poorly funded across the United States. 

Did You Know

  • 1 in 3 women faces cancer.
  • Every 6 minutes a woman in the United States is diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer.
  • Every 2 minutes a woman in the United States dies from cancer.
Downtown Magazine