More than 500 women from New York’s business and philanthropic communities gathered at Rockefeller University last week for the eighth annual Women & Science Lecture and Luncheon, which raised $1.2 million to support research by women scientists.

Thursday’s event started with a discussion of cancer treatment and prevention featuring Nobel laureate Paul Nurse, the university’s ninth president, and Drs. Titia de Lange, Madhav Dhopdapkar, and Anne Moore.

At the luncheon that followed, conversation was even more stimulating, thanks to female scientists seated at each table, ranging from tenured professors to graduate students. Among those peppered with questions about their work were Dr. Mary Jeanne Kreek, an expert on heroin addiction; Leslie Vosshall, who is looking for subjects for a study of smell and holds a faculty chair endowed by trustee Robin Neustein; Myriam Heiman, whose focus is the brain region damaged in Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia; and two graduate students in the lab headed by Gunter Blobel, Johanna Napetschnig and Sarah Whitcomb.

Ms. Whitcomb sat at a table of art critics and art dealers. “They were very interested. They had a lot more background than I expected,” she said.

Is it difficult to be a woman scientist? “Not right now,” Ms. Whitcomb said. “Half of the post doctorates are women. At the assistant and full professor level, that’s when they disappear.” Ms. Whitcomb’s mother, by the way, is a math professor.

Ms. Napetschnig at first avoided the question. “Regardless of your gender, you should just follow your passion,” she said. “It is unfortunate that at the top level it’s still a man’s club.”

Ms. Whitcomb praised Princeton University forgiving both male and female faculty members an extra year to be considered for tenure when they have a child.

The Women & Science program began in 1998 and is a runaway hit on many levels. It teaches women about cutting-edge scientific research and raises the profile of female scientists among affluent New York women who might have pursued a science career had they not chosen marriage and family – and who can now encourage their daughters and granddaughters to do both.

Female scientists at Rockefeller University also appreciate the program, and not only for the money it raises for their research – more than 45 postdoctoral and graduate fellows have received support. They are elated to meet non-scientific women who exhibit curiosity and respect for their work.

A new initiative of the program is the Seed Fund for Innovative Cancer Research, which will provide support to Rockefeller’s cancer scientists. To launch the fund, Arthur and Janet Ross gave a challenge grant that will match all gifts made to the fund this year.

Other institutions, such as the Cold Spring Harbor research facility and Massachusetts General and Brigham Women’s hospitals, are using Rockefeller’s program as a model to start their own.

The luncheon drew many of the most serious-minded members of the social set, with a variety of ages and professions represented. For example: Marnie Pillsbury, Annette de la Renta, Samantha Boardman, Anne Grauso, Joyce Menschel, Elyse Newhouse, and Tara Rockefeller were all in attendance.