The Pap Corps Makes Historic Annual Donation to Sylvester

In the pursuit of cures that not only save patients but also improve their quality of life, The Pap Corps Champions for Cancer Research made a historic annual donation to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, continuing a remarkable partnership seven decades in the making.

Representatives of The Pap Corps present $8.4 million check to Dr. Antonio Iavarone.
Sally Berenzweig, CEO of The Pap Corps; Jayne Malfitano, president and director, Harcourt M. and Virginia W. Sylvester Foundation and chair of the Sylvester Board of Governors; Antonio Iavarone, M.D.; and Susan Dinter, chair of The Pap Corps.

Thanks to its members’ ceaseless work in the past year, The Pap Corps presented a ceremonial check for $8.4 million to Antonio Iavarone, M.D., the deputy director of Sylvester, during its annual president’s meeting on May 18. The amount is the group’s largest yearly donation to Sylvester, which is South Florida’s only NCI-designated and nationally ranked cancer center.

“Today was one of the most exciting days in the history of The Pap Corps,” said Susan Dinter, chair of The Pap Corps. “We are so grateful for the remarkable support of our members, who work tirelessly year after year to fund these multimillion-dollar donations, and to our benevolent donors, whose commitment to our mission inspires us all! For 70 years, we have supported cancer research and will continue to do so until a cure can be found.”

A Historic $50 Million Pledge

The donation is part of The Pap Corps’ landmark 2016 pledge of $50 million to Sylvester, which named Sylvester at Deerfield Beach as The Pap Corps campus. A portion of this year’s gift will be used for the construction of Sylvester’s Transformational Cancer Research Building (TCRB), a 12-story, cutting-edge facility on the University of Miami medical campus that will double Sylvester’s research footprint and change the face of cancer research in South Florida. The TCRB is scheduled to open in 2025.

“The Pap Corps allows our scholars to continue their groundbreaking cancer research, and to discover new treatments and cures to fight cancer,” said Dr. Iavarone, a pediatric oncologist. “They are a testament to what can be accomplished by an unwavering determination to find solutions, and we couldn’t be more grateful for their tireless support.”

South Florida’s Largest Volunteer Fundraising Organization

Named after Dr. George Papanicolaou, who introduced the Pap smear in 1928, The Pap Corps was started in 1952 by five visionary women who were driven by the lack of early detection and treatment of cancer.

Today, it is South Florida’s largest volunteer fundraising organization with more than 22,000 members and 52 chapters, and it has raised more than $110 million for cancer research at Sylvester.

It is because of the strong partnership between The Pap Corps and Sylvester that UHealth has been able to open 10 locations throughout South Florida, including The Pap Corps campus.

“On behalf of everyone at Sylvester, we are extraordinarily grateful to The Pap Corps for their continued support, as well as their dedication to Sylvester, to our mission and to our community,” said Stephen D. Nimer, M.D., the director of Sylvester, who is also the Oscar de la Renta Endowed Chair in Cancer Research, executive dean for research and professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School. “Their impact on generations of residents is unmatched.”

The Pap Corps Champions for Cancer Research recently celebrated its 70th anniversary as a longest-standing philanthropic partner of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. See part of the celebration here.

Tags: cancer research, Dr. Antonio Iavarone, Dr. Stephen Nimer, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Pap Corps Champions for Cancer Research