Buck and Vonda Wright seek to raise $79 million for a women's aging research fund

Buck and Vonda Wright seek to raise $79 million for a women's aging research fund

On July 28, the Buck Institute and orthopedic surgeon Vonda Wright announced the Move the Mountain campaign. The goal is to raise $79 million, with $1 million for each of the 79 miles in Wright's mountain challenge, and establish a fund for research on women's aging at the institute.

The Buck announcement identifies the first four areas of work for the planned Vonda Wright Women's Health Foundation: a scientific map of the aging ovary, changes in muscles, bones, and joints during menopause, women's sexual health, and pilot projects led by women researchers.

The ovary has a central place in this program. Follicles contain egg cells and the cells that surround them, and the follicle reserve declines with age. A review in Cell Research describes follicles as the functional units of the reproductive lifespan and links their depletion to the onset of menopause. The map of the aging ovary is intended to provide researchers with a detailed account of this process.

Buck opened its Center for Healthy Aging in Women in 2019. The Productive Health Consortium, which operates through the center, has supported 57 research grants across four continents. The new campaign will create a separate fund for small, early-stage studies. Buck expects the data from these pilot studies to help their authors secure larger grants. This connects the fundraising to a specific sequence: an initial project, its results, and a subsequent grant application.

From September 16 to 20, Wright will take part in the 29029 Trails Race in Park City, followed by the 29029 Everesting Race in 2027. Together, these challenges will make up her 79-mile route and serve as the public component of the campaign. The fund is intended to provide a permanent source of support for research on the ovary, menopause, women's sexual health, and pilot studies.