Community Outreach
The DiFeo laboratory maintains an active involvement with the community, patients, patient advocacy organizations, and policymakers to promote relationships among the academic community and the wider society. Most importantly, to increase awareness about ovarian cancer and provide hope to those who are afflicted with the disease. Every individual in the lab participates in volunteer work for esteemed organizations, including the Michigan Ovarian Cancer Alliance (MIOCA) and the American Cancer Society ResearcHERs ambassador program. This program entails activities like fundraising for women-led cancer research labs, raising awareness about cancer research, and organizing lab tours. In addition, they engage in community-oriented activities such as the Annual Barbara Ann Robson Memorial Golf Outing Benefiting Ovarian Cancer Research at the University of Michigan. During their time in the lab, all trainees serve as mentors to high school students as well. The high school students provided mentorship are recruited from diverse organizations, including The Young Scientist Foundation (YSF) which Dr. DiFeo co-founded. This organization offers them a one-of-a-kind opportunity to pursue scientific careers through participation in significant medical research by connecting motivated high school students with biomedical scientists.