Sharon Monsky (October 23, 1953 – May 11, 2002) was an American health activist who founded the

Scleroderma Research Foundation The Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF) is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that funds research into scleroderma. The SRF also funds and supports Scleroderma Centers of Excellence, including the Johns Hopkins Hospital's Scleroderm ...

Early life

Monsky was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

on October 23, 1953. She was a competitive figure skater as a teenager. Monsky received a BA in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Pitzer College Pitzer College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was founded in 1963 as a women's college in the Claremont Colleges consortium and became coeducational in 1970. Pitzer enrolls approximately 1000 students. Pitzer off ...

, where she also met her future husband Mark Scher. She received her

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1980, while living in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and working on the Pacific Stock Exchange.

Scleroderma Research Foundation

In 1982, while working as a

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

for McKinsey & Co. Inc., Monsky was diagnosed with

scleroderma Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas ...

and was told she had only two years to live. The rare disease hardens the skin and internal organs of young women of child-bearing age causing disfigurement, and is potentially fatal. In reaction to the lack of awareness of the disease in the medical community, she went on to found the Scleroderma Research Foundation in 1987, an organization dedicated to finding a cure. According to the ''New York Times'', "Ms. Monsky's activities generated more than $14 million for research and helped expand understanding of the disease. Money she disbursed for basic medical research on scleroderma led to the publication of scientific articles exploring potential cures. Her work also helped make scleroderma better known." Ms. Monsky applied her business expertise to successful fund-raising efforts. For example, she organized an annual fund-raiser which in 1992 combined top comedians such as

Bob Saget Robert Lane Saget (May 17, 1956 – January 9, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and television host. He portrayed Danny Tanner on the sitcom ''Full House'' (1987–1995) and its sequel '' Fuller House'' (2016–2020). ...

plus fine cuisine which drew 420 people and netted donations of $125,000. Monsky's friend actress

Dana Delany Dana Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television drama ''China Beach'' (1 ...

said "Sharon's work literally convinced researchers that there was hope in finding a cure ... Before research can begin researchers have to be convinced there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Now we know it's a solvable problem held back only by research resources." In 1996, Monsky appeared in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

TV movie '' For Hope'' alongside Delany. Reflecting on her work, Monsky has stated, "I'm in the business of finding a cure for scleroderma...and the best thing of all is that I'm in the business to go out of business." After living 18 years beyond the original prognosis, Monsky died on May 11, 2002, at age 48, due to complications from the disease.

References

External links

Scleroderma Research Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monsky, Sharon 1953 births 2002 deaths American health activists Deaths from scleroderma