Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance Launches Community Accelerated Research Exchange, a Global AI-Powered Ecosystem to Transform Gynecologic Cancer Research

Platform, powered by AWS, connects patients, researchers, and clinicians to accelerate breakthroughs in gynecologic cancers

NEW YORK, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) today announced the launch of the Community Accelerated Research Exchange, a first-of-its-kind, global, AI-powered ecosystem designed to transform how gynecologic cancer research is conducted—accelerating breakthroughs by connecting patients, clinicians, researchers, and advocates in real time.

Despite decades of effort, progress against ovarian and uterine cancers has been slowed by fragmented data, siloed research, and limited access to large-scale, real-world patient insights. Each year, nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with these diseases, and nearly 27,000 will die. The Research Exchange is designed to change that trajectory.

"The Community Accelerated Research Exchange represents a fundamental shift in how discovery happens," said Audra Moran, President and CEO of OCRA. "By bringing patients, researchers, and clinicians into a single, AI-powered ecosystem—and breaking down the silos that have slowed progress for far too long—we are accelerating breakthroughs that can improve care today while driving the discoveries of tomorrow."

At its core, the Research Exchange integrates patient-powered data, AI-enabled global scientific collaboration, and AI-generated, human-curated synthesis of emerging research to enable discoveries to happen faster and reach patients sooner. The Living Lab serves as the foundation of the ecosystem—a secure, ovarian and uterine cancer, patient-powered registry that captures real-world data, including medical records, treatment side effects, quality of life, and financial impact. Built on this foundation, the Research Exchange enables AI-powered collaboration through Discovery Lab—a global research environment that allows scientists, from major academic centers to smaller institutions around the world, to access and analyze shared, high-quality datasets for all types of gynecologic cancers.

The Research Exchange is underpinned by the secure cloud infrastructure and advanced AI capabilities of Amazon Web Services (AWS). The exchange leverages AI tools including Amazon Bedrock and Amazon SageMaker, along with other AWS services including AWS HealthOmics, which enables scalable data integration, advanced analytics, and global collaboration.

"OCRA's Research Exchange is a lighthouse project for demonstrating how cloud and generative AI technologies can support innovation in healthcare at a global scale," said Dr. Rowland Illing, Chief Medical Officer and Director, Healthcare and Life Sciences at AWS. "We are proud to support this initiative by providing OCRA with $1 million in AWS credits to help enable the advancement of gynecologic cancer research by connecting patient-powered data to secure, AI-enabled analysis."

Individuals diagnosed with ovarian or uterine cancer can participate through the Living Lab, contributing their experiences to a growing, de-identified dataset that helps researchers uncover patterns, improve treatments, and better understand real-world outcomes, while gaining access to tools including a personalized symptom tracker.

By transforming isolated data into a continuously evolving, interconnected system, the Community Accelerated Research Exchange enables discoveries to happen faster—and reach patients sooner.

Support for the Living Lab is provided in part by AbbVie, AstraZeneca, GSK, and Genentech.

About Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA)
Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance is the largest global organization in the fight against ovarian and other gynecologic cancers, driving progress through innovative research, comprehensive support programs, and advocacy. Since 1994, OCRA has invested $140 million in scientific breakthroughs, supports 140,000 people annually, and—as the only organization solely dedicated to advancing ovarian and gynecologic cancer priorities on Capitol Hill—has helped secure $3.8 billion in federal funding. Learn more at ocrahope.org.

SOURCE Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance