Breast Cancer Alliance Awards 18 Grants for 2012
The Breast Cancer Alliance has awarded five research grants, two breast surgery fellowships and eleven education/outreach grants for 2012. This year's research grants will fund innovative projects at leading cancer research institutions in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. BCA fellows will train at highly regarded hospitals in New Jersey and New York. The Alliance has also funded education initiatives, community outreach programs and free screening mammography programs that reach underserved and uninsured women in Fairfield, New Haven, Hartford and Westchester Counties.
Debbie Black, President of the Breast Cancer Alliance, said, "We are excited to broaden our reach this year by adding new research institutions to our network. We welcome the opportunity to partner with them, along with institutions and programs we have traditionally funded. We look forward to continuing to advance cutting-edge treatment options and breast cancer services in our communities."
“We are pleased to award grants to these dynamic researchers and programs," added Kim Fulton, Kathy Hanson, Carla Kidd, and Jane Batkin, 2011 Grants Committee chairs. "The researchers are undertaking critical explorations into targeted, personalized treatment and the education and outreach providers continue to step in to fill a critical gap in health care coverage for needy women. We are proud to be associated with all of their efforts."
Longtime Alliance supporters Joanne and Michael Masin have funded their tenth Young Investigator. Their grant will support the research of Dr. Zdravka Medarova at Massachusetts General Hospital. They are joined this year by Lisa and Mark Walsh, who are supporting their first fellowship, a Young Investigator grant awarded to Dr. Piyush Gupta at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. The 2012 grants include the seventh Debbie Taylor Breast Surgery Fellowship at Beth Israel Medical Center/St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Continuum Cancer Centers of New York. This year also marks a sixth grant to the Yale-New Haven Breast Center, in honor of Norma Lies Mitchell.
The Breast Cancer Alliance is pleased to announce the following recipients for 2012.
Research Grants
Masin Young Investigator Grant
- Zdravka Medarova, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, MicroRNA nanotherapy for the prevention and arrest of lymph node metastatic breast cancer
The Walsh Family Young Investigator Grant
- Piyush Gupta, PhD, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Prediction of breast cancer treatment sensitivity of EMT submodules
Young Investigator Grant
- Despina Kontos, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Effective utilization of breast tomosynthesis using imaging markers to guide personalized screening
Norma Lies Mitchell Exceptional Project Grant
- Faye Rogers, PhD, Yale University,Gene-targeted apoptosis as a therapeutic strategy for HER2-positive breast cancer
Exceptional Project Grant
- Charlotte Kuperwasser, PhD, Tufts University, Mechanisms of breast cancer progression associated with obesity
Education and Outreach Awards and Programs
Breast Surgery Fellowships
- 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, 2012
- The Cancer Institute of New Jersey/Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine - Breast Cancer Alliance Breast Surgery Fellowship, to begin July 1, 2012
Breast Services Programs
- CancerCare of Connecticut, Norwalk, CT - Fund a breast cancer support services program for diverse communities
- 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, Port Chester, 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
- Hospital of St. Raphael, New Haven, CT - Support comprehensive breast cancer outreach and case managerial services for underserved women
