Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By richards on October 14, 2014

Jewish pro golfer Morgan Pressel of Boca Raton is not only an elite golfer on the women's pro golf circuit, but is also a leader for breast cancer research over the past seven years.

Pressel has raised over $3.4 million through her annual Morgan Pressel and Friends pro-am golf tournament each January at the St. Andrews Country Club where she resides.

The money raised through the Morgan Pressel Foundation has benefited thousands of women through the founding last year of the Morgan Pressel Center For Cancer Genetics at Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

"Men and women now can be tested through genetics for breast, colon and ovarian cancer at the center, and we had more than doubled the number of people who have been tested, compared to 2013," said Dr. Louise Morrell, medical director of the Lynn Cancer Institute.

Morrell has dedicated more than 25 years to cancer genetics research and acknowledges that Ashkenazi (Eastern European origin) Jewish women are especially prone to breast and ovarian cancers.

"The mutation of the BRCA gene 1 and BRCA gene 2 is extremely important among Ashkenazi Jewish women to identify early for cancer," said Dr. Morrell.

Even men can be at risk for breast cancer. Bob Weaver, a well-known television weatherman at NBC 6, died of breast cancer in 2006.

Morrell acknowledges that Pressel has lent much more than her name and money to cancer research.

"Morgan has made frequent visits to patients at the center and has inspired both patients and donors by her passion for raising funds for cancer research."

Pressel lost her mother, Kathy Krickstein Pressel, who died of breast cancer at age 43 in 2003, when Morgan was 15. In her memory, Pressel has also funded the Kathy Krickstein Mammovan, a mobile van that provides mammograms examination to women throughout Palm Beach County.

See more here:

Golfer Pressel raises $3 million for breast cancer research

Category: Ashkenazi
Tags: