Announcing the 2024 Recipient of Rhonda’s Award


The Mucinous Ovarian Cancer Coalition (MOCC) is happy to announce the next recipient of Rhonda’s Award. This year’s grantee is Dr. Elizabeth Stover from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her proposal, Therapeutic Targeting of Cell Death Pathways in Mucinous Ovarian Cancer, is one the MOCC Physician Advisory Committee felt had the potential to make a significant impact in mucinous ovarian cancer research.
“Rhonda’s Award is the leading priority for MOCC,” explains Board of Director’s President, Shelley Laurell. “The grant is named in memory of my late sister, who lost her battle with this disease far too young. Through it, we hope to encourage leading researchers around the world to turn their attention to mucinous ovarian cancer.”
Laurell further adds, “This rare type of ovarian cancer just hasn’t received the attention or funding necessary to impact treatment. So, we are excited to see what Dr. Stover and her colleagues can accomplish with this funding.”
Here’s what you might want to know about the researchers and their project goals.

Rhonda’s Award 2024

Research Team

Principal Investigator:  Elizabeth Stover MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Institute Collaborators: Joan Brugge PhD, Harvard Medical School; Ursula Matulonis MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute


Specific Aims

Aim 1: Characterize expression of apoptosis proteins in MOC cell lines and patient samples


Aim 2: Determine sensitivity of MOC cell lines to inhibitors of BCL-2 family pro-survival proteins and other cell death related compounds using viability assays and BH3 profiling of apoptotic priming


 Aim 3: Evaluate the efficacy of combining inhibitors of BCL-2 family pro-survival proteins with chemotherapy and targeted agents in MOC cell lines



Dr. Elizabeth Stover Biography

Dr. Stover received her M.D. (2009) and Ph.D. (2007) from Harvard Medical School, with Ph.D. research in the biology of hematologic malignancies. She completed an internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2011 and a Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital in 2016.Currently, Dr. Stover is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a medical oncologist in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. She is engaged in laboratory and translational research focusing on genomics and drug resistance in ovarian cancer and other gynecologic cancers.

You Can Help Advance Research

If you’d like to help us continue to raise awareness about mucinous ovarian
cancer in the research community and fund Rhonda’s Award, we hope you will
consider making a donation. Our goal is to offer a grant of up to $50,000 on an
annual basis. Every dollar you contribute helps us meet that goal.
Click here to donate today!