News

Helen Gardner Elected to The Clearity Foundation’s Board of Directors

Patient-turned-board member to advocate for other women with ovarian cancer

La Jolla, Calif., April 9, 2012 – The board of directors of The Clearity Foundation has named Helen Gardner as a new board member of the non-profit organization dedicated to providing individualized treatment information to women with ovarian cancer. Ms. Gardner has developed a deep commitment to the organization’s mission since she utilized Clearity’s patient services in 2009, following her diagnosis with ovarian cancer and the failure of the standard chemotherapy regimen. Since then, Clearity has helped her to identify and make informed decisions about options for treatments and clinical trials. Even while undergoing aggressive treatment, Ms. Gardner has committed to giving back to Clearity and helping other patients by raising over $12,000 in 2011 and approximately $170,000 in 2012 by organizing an inaugural fundraising event in Dallas, Texas.

“I never fail to be impressed with Helen’s remarkable strength, compassion and resourcefulness in advocating for her own care and helping other patients through her support of Clearity. We are very fortunate to have her join our board. I know we will benefit from her passionate advocacy for women with ovarian cancer and her drive to provide hope for a cure when standard treatment fails,” said Laura Shawver, Ph.D., founder of The Clearity Foundation.

“Clearity has been a tremendous source of support and information for me throughout my treatment. Too often patients are told there is no hope, but I refuse to give up hope for a cure for patients now. Clearity is helping women who are battling this deadly disease today and it is a gratifying opportunity to continue to help them help more patients,’ stated Ms. Gardner.

Ms. Gardner is an accomplished non-profit fundraiser, accountant and art enthusiast. Most recently, she helped to co-chair the inaugural Ovarian Cycle Dallas: Ride to Change the Future of Ovarian Cancer, a successful fundraising event with over 300 participants raising more than $303,000 for ovarian cancer patient support and research. Prior to her ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2009, she owned several small businesses and ran a private CPA practice for over 25 years. She is a certified public accountant and graduate of Emory University.

Ovarian cancer tumors are very different from patient to patient, which means they are likely to respond differently to FDA-approved and investigational drugs. By identifying the alterations in each tumor’s information pathways, molecular profiling enables the individualization of a patient’s treatment by matching those tumor alterations with one or more drugs. The Clearity Foundation has developed a process for generating this personalized diagnostic information using commercially-available molecular profiling technologies and then analyzing the results using its Diane Barton Database. Armed with this analysis, patients are able to work with their medical teams to make better-informed treatment decisions.