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Fashion Designer Marc Jacobs Hosts After Party Fundraiser to Benefit NYU's Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group

NEW YORK, September 12, 2006 – Fashion designer Marc Jacobs, and Robert Duffy, President and CEO of Marc Jacobs International, dedicated this year’s 2007 fashion week to raise money in honor of Richard L. Shapiro, M.D. and his colleagues in the NYU Medical Center’s Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group (IMCG) who are dedicated to advancing the care of melanoma patients through a coordinated approach that combines basic science, translational research, and clinical care. Duffy dedicated the event to the memory of his friend the late Jesse Rubin, M.D., a dermatologist from NYU Medical Center.

Duffy’s approach to raising awareness for skin cancer was eye-catching indeed. He convinced more than a dozen celebrities, including Julianne Moore, Naomi Campbell, Hilary Swank, and Marc Jacobs himself to pose nude for a "Protect The Skin You’re In" campaign. T-shirts bearing these images were sold at the after-party, held at the Gramercy Park Hotel, and continue to be sold at Marc Jacobs stores—with all proceeds going to the IMCG.

Richard L. Shapiro, M.D., FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Surgical Melanoma Program at NYU Clinical Cancer Institute, is one of the leaders of the IMCG and truly appreciative of being included in such an extraordinary event. "On behalf of the Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group, I would like to thank Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy for their thoughtfulness, creativity, and generosity. Their efforts have certainly heightened public awareness and will undoubtedly advance the care of melanoma patients by supporting basic science and translational research."

The IMCG is one of the largest and most well-established programs in the United States, treating over 700 patients with melanoma each year. A direct extension of the NYU Tumor Service, one of the oldest clinical entities designed to specifically care for patients with a diagnosis of cancer; the Program’s foundation is based on the experience and expertise of a broad range of medical professionals with a special interest in research and the treatment of patients with malignant melanoma. The program includes the departments/divisions of Surgical Oncology, Dermatology, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Nuclear Medicine, Dermatopathology, Anatomic Pathology, Immunology, and Genetics, as well as the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, and Social and Psychology Services.

T-shirts are being sold at the Marc Jacobs stores nationwide for a limited time. To find store locations go to www.marcjacobs.com.

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