The Melanoma Research Foundation’s CURE OM Initiative hosted the first Virtual Global Patient Symposium in November of 2020. This three-day event was planned and hosted by five organizations across three continents. More than 400 attendees from eight countries attended over this three-day event and had 52 sessions to choose from.

We hosted speakers from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom and United States. Attendees could choose from different tracks related to country, social emotional sessions and medical sessions that pertained to their part of the world. On the last day of the event, global experts came together to present and participate in panel discussions on the topics of research and clinical trials that are currently underway in countries across the world. It was an exciting event, and the first step towards fostering global relationships within the ocular melanoma community.

In October of 2020, CURE OM hosted its 9th Annual CURE OM Science Meeting in conjunction with the Society for Melanoma Congress.  This was the first virtual science meeting held with over 160 participants who joined us from three different continents. The latest in research and treatments were discussed with speakers joining from Australia, UK, Europe and the US.  

In 2019, CURE OM hosted the 8th annual meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. After the meeting closed, those who attended worked on pulling together a white paper that discussed the latest treatments and research.  This past fall, the white paper was published in the Clinical Cancer Research Journal. CURE OM continues to be on the cutting edge of discussions around the forward trajectory of ocular melanoma research and treatments.

February 28, 2021 was Rare Disease Day, a day dedicated to celebrating and educating those with rare diseases. The MRF was proud to partner with rarediseaseday.org to highlight all the melanoma subtypes, including ocular melanoma.

CURE OM took part in two different awareness pieces for rare disease day including a guest blog post by Alton Pace about his half-sister, Daryl, who battled with ocular melanoma. Read his blog here.

MRF advocates from all of our rare subtypes banded together in a video, highlighting important facts about each diagnosis and the need for annual dilated eye exams and skin checks. Watch the full video here.   

We are proud to honor all of our melanoma warriors, especially our ocular melanoma patients and caregivers who fight every day with this rare disease.  

The MRF was thrilled to partner with Castle Biosciences for the first Ask the Expert Series focused on ocular melanoma. 

This four-part series ran during #EyeGetDilated month and brought leading experts from across the country to take part in this Facebook Live Series. During each session, the community had a chance to learn from a leading expert from topics on surveillance, research, genetic testing results and the importance of genetic testing.  The community was encouraged to ask questions which were answered in real time by the presenters about all topics that impact the ocular melanoma experience.

To watch this Ask the Expert series, follow this link.

The MRF is proud to support individual investigators at the beginning of their research careers. Medical Student Awards promote scientific inquiry and encourage young investigators to pursue a career in melanoma science. In February, the MRF announced the award of 11 new Medical Student Research Awards, including those supporting studies of the rare forms of acral and mucosal melanoma.

To date, the MRF has granted 80 Medical Student Awards! Visit the MRF Research Center to meet the newest members of the MRF scientific community and learn about their important work.