Harry Connick Jr. Helps Raise $1.5 Million for Stanford Women’s Cancer Center

Photo Credit: Drew Altizer Photography

Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club in Menlo Park was the place to be recently when the annual Under One Umbrella luncheon took place and raised $1.5 million, directly benefiting the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center. Grammy and Emmy award-winning performer Harry Connick Jr. highlighted the afternoon’s entertainment. Attending the event were Chair Dianne Panos Taube and her sister, Christine Panos, Chair Emeritus Lisa Schatz and Steven Schatz, and a dedicated founding steering committee comprised of women who are active leaders from the community.

Over 300 guests attended including representatives from Stanford Health Care and School of Medicine faculty: Lloyd B. Minor, MD, Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care Interim CEO Mariann Byerwalter, Beverly Mitchell, MD, Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute; community leaders and philanthropists including Laurie Kraus Lacob, Mary Stevens, Suzanne Crandall, Anne Howland Doerr, Debbie and Andy Rachleff, Lisa Goldman, Jane and Larry Solomon and many other generous donors and grateful patients.

Funds raised through Under One Umbrella help the Center recruit and retain the most outstanding physicians and scientists, expand important research programs, and provide seed grants that create opportunities for faculty to explore innovative research. Donation monies also support the clinical trials of new drugs and immunotherapies and help expand and maintain supportive care services for patients and families during treatment.

Now in its seventh year, the annual Under One Umbrella luncheon event has raised more than $26 million for projects benefiting women with breast, ovarian, and other gynecologic cancers. Support from this close-knit community of philanthropists helped launch the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center in 2009 under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Berek, the Laurie Kraus Lacob Professor and director of the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center. Previous performers and speakers at the event have included Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Wilson Phillips and Sheryl Crow.

Photo Credit: Drew Altizer Photography