“We can’t do much about the length of our lives, but we can do plenty about its width and depth.”

~Evan Esar

Welcome to Cookie’s Cause: our fundraiser for triple-negative breast cancer research in honor of our one-of-a-kind mom, Kristin Manojlovic Gentilini (aka ‘Cookie!’). In order to support the life-changing work of our mom’s doctor, Dr. Linda Vahdat, we ran the 2021 NYC Marathon as members of Fred’s Team–Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's running program. 100% of the funds raised will directly support Dr. Vahdat and her research team. 

Dr. Vahdat’s research largely focuses on a copper depletion compound called tetrahiomolybdate (TM), which we undoubtedly credit with giving our mom and our family so much extra time. We found that this treatment did something that no other treatment had–it made her diagnosis manageable and enabled her to live an extraordinarily full life, far beyond what was expected by her prognosis.

Our mom was incredibly intelligent and unimaginably informed, and truly advocated for herself more fiercely than anyone we know. She left no stone unturned in her search of treatment options, and was relentless in taking hold of the width and depth of her life by doing whatever it took to access TM. But nobody should have to jump through hoops to receive the best care.

Unfortunately, until more testing can be done to support TM as a mainstream form of cancer management, thousands of women just like Cookie will continue to miss out on memories. It is our hope that all women get to experience the freedom and quality of life our mom experienced while on TM: happy, healthy, and deeply rich. Thankfully, with your help, we can support Dr. Vahdat in continuing to change the trajectory for every wife, mother, sister, friend, daughter, and family faced with this terrible and terrifying disease. 

The magnitude of the privilege of being our mother’s daughters is not lost on us. We have a huge legacy to uphold, and we’re going to do absolutely everything we can to make her proud. Please join us in honoring our best friend, our biggest fan, our role model–our mom. Together, let’s do our part to “imagine a world without cancer.”

With endless gratitude,
Justine & Lara Gentilini