Olivia Munn Joins Celebrating Women as Featured Guest
Accomplished model , actress and breast cancer survivor is keynote guest at 25th anniversary luncheon .
SPECIAL EVENTS
ow in its 25th year , Celebrating Women has raised more than $ 40 million to advance the fight against breast cancer and enhance treatment and care for the more than
20,000 women diagnosed with this disease in Texas each year .
This year , the Celebrating Women community continues its mission to raise money that fuels innovative research , advances early detection and creates patient-centered programs to care for women and their families facing a breast cancer diagnosis .
“ Breast cancer has touched the lives of so many women and families around the world , and I ’ m so proud of our Dallas community for leading the way in
Linda Custard the fight against this disease ,” said Linda Custard , Celebrating Women Silver Jubilee Presiding Chair . “ As Celebrating Women marks 25 years of impact , I continue to be inspired by the physicians who remain so committed to this cause , by the patients who bravely share their stories and by the thousands of community members who stand together in this fight .”
Joining us in the fight for this year ’ s milestone anniversary luncheon will be Olivia Munn , our featured guest .
Olivia is an accomplished model and actress known for her roles in The Rock , The Newsroom , X-Men , The LEGO Movie and Iron Man 2 . An Oklahoma native , she spent the majority of her childhood in
Tokyo , Japan , and speaks fluent Japanese .
Olivia attended the University of Oklahoma after moving back to the U . S . and relocated to Los Angeles , later joining the Emmy-winning Comedy Central series The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a correspondent .
Despite having normal mammograms and genetic testing results that showed she was negative for more than 90 different cancer-causing gene mutations , Olivia ’ s doctor performed a Tyrer-Cuzick ( T-C model ) breast cancer risk assessment , which indicated she was still at high risk . In 2023 , armed with this information , Olivia had an MRI and learned she had breast cancer in both breasts . A biopsy showed it was an aggressive , fastgrowing subtype of the disease .
“ The ability to tailor treatment to a patient ’ s tumor biology is crucial to optimize outcomes ,” said Joyce O ’ Shaughnessy , MD , Celebrating Women Chair for Breast Cancer Research . “ We have learned a great deal about which therapies are most effective against hormone receptor-positive , high-grade breast cancer , and the survival rates have substantially improved due to the results from numerous clinical trials over the past decade .”
Olivia ’ s cancer was caught early , and she faced the challenge head-on by having a double mastectomy and oophorectomy to reduce exposure to the hormones that the breast cancer was dependent on . She is now a vocal advocate for risk assessments , which can help women understand their risk and intercept cancer earlier — a mission closely aligned with the Baylor Scott & White High-Risk Breast Screening Program .
“ By sharing my story , I hope to empower women to find out their lifetime risk assessment score , and I hope it lets doctors know about the test and to please take it seriously ,” Olivia said in an ABC World News Tonight interview .
The 25th Anniversary Celebrating Women Luncheon will be Friday , October 18 , 2024 , at the Hilton Anatole hotel . For more information on sponsorships , tickets or how you can get involved in this year ’ s efforts , visit BSWHealth . com / CelebratingWomen .
“ By sharing my story , I hope to empower women to find out their lifetime risk assessment score … I hope it lets doctors know about the test and to please take it seriously .”
— Olivia Munn
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THE COMPASS / BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE FOUNDATION NEWS / FALL 2024