Breast Cancer Alliance Awards $1.45 Million in 2008 Grants

The Breast Cancer Alliance voted to award $1.45 million in grants for 2008. Consistent with the mission of the Alliance, the grants will fund innovative research projects at leading cancer research institutions in New York City, Philadelphia and Connecticut. They will also fund education initiatives, community outreach programs and free screening mammography programs that reach underserved women in Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven and Westchester Counties. Research grants are examined by external reviewers and ranked according to innovation, impact, approach, feasibility and qualifications.

This year, the Alliance is pleased to add a new breast surgery fellowship, bringing the number of surgery fellowships it offers to four. The new one-year fellowship, set to begin in July, 2008, will be offered at the Brooklyn Breast Cancer Program at Maimonides Cancer Center in Brooklyn, New York. “Surgical residents benefit greatly from being able to experience breast cancer treatment beyond the operating room. This fellowship gives residents who are interested in breast cancer an opportunity to view the disease from a variety of prisms – the clinic, the community, the lab, the operating room and through post-operative therapy and recovery sessions. If that extra year creates a surgeon with a lifelong interest in treating breast cancer, our grant will have made an important contribution to treating this disease,” said Alliance president Lisa G. Matthews. “We are especially pleased to begin a new relationship with Maimonides Cancer Center, where we have a longtime friend in Program Director Dr. Patrick Borgen, a member of the Alliance Advisory Board,” she added.

For the sixth consecutive year, longtime Alliance supporters Joanne and Michael Masin have funded a Young Investigator. This year’s Masin grant will support the research of Agnieszka Witkiewicz, MD at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

The Breast Cancer Alliance is pleased to announce the following recipients for 2008:

Research Grants

Young Investigator Grants

Kirsten Sadler Edepli, PhD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Identifying UHRF1 Target Genes in Breast Cancer and Embryogenesis
Yilun Liu, PhD, Yale University School of Medicine, Understanding the Role of RAD51C Complexes in DNA Repair and Tumor Avoidance

Masin Young Investigator Grant
(funded by Joanne and Michael Masin, longtime Alliance supporters)

Agnieszka Witkiewicz, MD, Thomas Jefferson University, Prognostic Biomarker Analysis in Ductal Carcinoma in Situ of the Breast

Exceptional Project Grants

Tari King, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Genetic Basis of Invasive Breast Cancer Risk Associated with Lobular Carcinoma in Situ
Babak Mehrara, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Lymphatic Regeneration in Autogenous Tissues
Allen Bale, MD, Yale University, Novel Chemopreventative Agents for Hereditary Breast Cancer
Lynne Regan, PhD, Yale University, A New Class of Hsp90 Inhibitors: Exploration of their Potential as Anti-Cancer Agents

Breast Surgery Fellowship

Beth Israel Medical Center/St. Luke’s - Roosevelt Hospital Center, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York - Debbie Taylor Breast Surgery Fellowship, to begin July 1, 2008
Brooklyn Breast Cancer Program at Maimonides Cancer Center – Breast Cancer Alliance Breast Surgery Fellowship, to begin July 1, 2008
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center - Breast Cancer Alliance Breast Surgery Fellowship, to begin July 1, 2008
Yale-New Haven Breast Center - Norma Lies Mitchell Breast Surgery Fellowship, to begin July 1, 2008

Education and Outreach Awards and Programs

CancerCareConnect , New York , NY – Fund the teleconference workshop: The Latest Developments Reported at the 31st Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and fund telephone support groups for breast cancer patients and their families
Corporate Angel Network, White Plains, NY – Provide ground transportation and lodging, as needed, to breast cancer patients
Greenwich Health at 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
HartfordHospital, Hartford, CT - Provide funding for community liaison activities related to their mobile mammography program for 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 their mobile mammography program
Stamford Health 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 outreach and case managerial services for underserved African American women
YWCA Encore Plus Program, White Plains, NY- Support education and outreach services
YWCA Greenwich, Greenwich, CT- Fund educational breast cancer support group 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