Breast Cancer Alliance Awards $1.4 Million in 2010 Grants
The Breast Cancer Alliance voted to award $1.4 million in grants for 2010. Consistent with the mission of the Alliance, the grants will fund innovative research projects at leading cancer research institutions in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. They will also fund education initiatives, community outreach programs and free screening mammography programs that reach underserved and uninsured women in Fairfield, New Haven and Westchester Counties. Research grants are examined by external reviewers and ranked according to innovation, impact, approach, methodology, practicality, and qualifications.
“We are grateful that we can continue to fund critical research and outreach programs, especially during this time of cutbacks in so many areas of medicine and medical services. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we can provide hope and help to people affected by breast cancer,” said Margaret Sinclair, President of the Breast Cancer Alliance.
“We believe that early detection and regular breast care make an enormous difference in fighting breast cancer and we are confident that cutting edge research will lead to breakthroughs in the way this disease is discovered and managed, ” said Belinda Benincasa, Alliance Executive Director. She added, “Despite recent questions about the value of screening, we remain firmly committed to funding programs that encourage people to seek preventive care.”
For the eighth consecutive year, longtime Alliance supporters Joanne and Michael Masin have funded a Young Investigator. Their grant will support the research of Mikala Egeblad, PhD, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York. This year also marks the fourth Norma Lies Mitchell Breast Surgery Fellowship at Yale-New Haven Breast Center, in honor of the Mitchell family, as well as the sixth Debbie Taylor Breast Surgery Fellowship at Beth Israel Medical Center/St. Luke’s - Roosevelt Hospital Center, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York.
The Breast Cancer Alliance is pleased to announce the following recipients for 2010:
Research Grants
Young Investigator Grants:
- Shubhada Dhage, MD, New York University School of Medicine, Assessing the Impact of Breast Stromal Gene Expression on Surgical Margins
- Qui Yan, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine, Roles of Histone Demethylase JARID1B in Breast Cancer
Masin Young Investigator Grant:
(funded by Joanne and Michael Masin, longtime Alliance supporters)
- Mikala Egeblad, PhD, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Interactions Between Chemotherapy and Tumor Infiltrating Immune Cells in Breast Cancer
Exceptional Project Grants:
- Quihong Huang, MD/PhD, The Wistar Institute, Identification of Fusion Genes in Breast Cancer
- Anthony J. Koleske, PhD, Yale University, Inhibition of Breast Cancer Invasiveness via Targeting of an Arg:cortactin Switch
- Adam Lerner, MD, Boston Medical Center, Mechanistic Studies of BCAR3-induced Anti-estrogen Resistance
- Sohail F. Tavazoie, MD/PhD, The Rockefeller University, Discovery of Molecules that Regulate the Levels of Metastasis Suppressor microRNAs in Breast Cancer
- Tiffany A. Traina, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Androgen Receptor Inhibition for the Treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Breast Surgery Fellowships
- Beth Israel Medical Center/St. Luke’s - Roosevelt Hospital Center, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York - Debbie Taylor Breast Surgery Fellowship, Lisa A. Hopkins, MD
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center - Breast Cancer Alliance Breast Surgery Fellowship, John Mitchel Barry, MD
- Yale-New Haven Breast Center - Norma Lies Mitchell Breast Surgery Fellowship, Michelle M. Sowden, DO
Education and Outreach Awards and Programs
- CancerCare Connect,New York, NY – Fund the teleconference workshop: The Latest Developments Reported at the 33rd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
- CancerCare of Connecticut, Norwalk, CT – Fund a breast cancer outreach program for the Hispanic community
- Corporate Angel Network, White Plains, NY – Arrange ground transportation and lodging for breast cancer patients
- Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich, CT - Fund free mammograms and follow-up diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds for uninsured women; provide patient education resource notebooks for patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer
- Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT - Provide funding for community liaison activities related to their “Take the Time” mobile mammography program for underserved women
- Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center at Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT – Provide screening and diagnostic mammograms to underserved women
- Open Door Family Medical Centers, Ossining, NY - Fund breast cancer related outreach and case managerial activities
- St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Bridgeport, CT - Fund free screening mammograms through the mobile mammography program
- Stamford Hospital Foundation, Stamford, CT – Fund free screening mammograms and follow-up ultrasounds and provide support for their Mobile Mammography Outreach and Education Program
- Witness Project of Connecticut, Inc, Bridgeport, CT – Provide funding for breast cancer outreach and case managerial services for underserved African American women
- YWCA Greenwich ENCORE Program, Greenwich, CT- Fund educational breast cancer support group services and exercise programs
- YWCA White Plains and Central Westchester Encore Plus Program, White Plains, NY- Support breast cancer education and outreach services
The Breast Cancer Alliance Junior Committee Education and Outreach Grant:
(funded by the Junior Committee of the Breast Cancer Alliance)
- Hospital of St. Raphael, New Haven, CT- Support comprehensive breast cancer outreach and case managerial services for underserved women
