Last night, the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), hosted the 2017 New York Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street New York. Award-winning actress and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg served as guest host for the event. The evening kicked off with PCF founder Michael Milken and Goldberg outlining the evening’s three themes: Women in Science, Big Data, and Family. Army veteran Constance Campbell performed the national anthem before the program started.
The Big Data portion of the evening included a speech by Dr. David Shulkin, Secretary of Veteran Affairs, who was presented by Dr. Jonathan Simons, PCF President, and CEO. Dr. Shulkin spoke on the VA’s commitment to transformation and modernization, including aggressively attacking prostate cancer, the most common form of cancer among veterans. The theme of Family was exemplified by the night’s honorees, Peter and Laurie Grauer, who were recognized for their commitment to cancer research and dedication to increasing the number of women in leadership positions, both in science and beyond. Alliance Bernstein CEO Seth Bernstein’s table, which included guests, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, donated a total of $1 million to the PCF Young Investigator program.
The evening concluded with a rousing performance by Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson, who sang hit songs including “Love You I Do,” “Spotlight,” “And I am Telling You,” and a Whitney Houston medley that got the crowd to their feet.
Proceeds from the event will support the partnership between the PCF and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide precision oncology to all veterans by establishing eleven centers of excellence. By providing access to their more than 9 million patient records, PCF researchers will be able to discover new and better treatments that will impact all prostate cancer patients.
For further information on the PCF, please visit http://www.pcf.org. Check out more photos below.