Women's Cancers Program Executive Council
5th annual Women's Cancers Program Executive Council Breakfast
John Quackenbush, PhD, a featured speaker at the April 16 Executive Council Breakfast, discusses how Dana-Farber is harnessing emerging technologies to
advance breast and ovarian cancer research.
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Be one of the 300 women joining us on April 16, 2008, for intimate conversations with Dana-Farber physicians, scientists, and caregivers who are redefining the research landscape for all women's cancers. With your help, we can collectively create a future for women's cancers that is very different from the past. Because, if not us, who?
The Women's Cancers Program (WCP) Executive Council is a forum providing women who are leaders in business and the community the opportunity to access information on women's cancers and help advance research through advocacy and financial support. Launched in April 2004, the mission of the Executive Council is threefold:
- Educate women about breast and gynecologic cancers
- Cultivate advocates for Dana-Farber's Women's Cancers Program
- Raise funds to accelerate research
In 2004, the Executive Council set a target goal to raise $3 million to support the Tailored Therapies Program for Breast Cancer Research. The Council successfully met this goal in the winter of 2006, and these funds have already made a significant impact, helping Dana-Farber to fund early stage investigations of tailored therapies and foster scientific collaboration.
Genetic Fingerprinting Research Fund For Breast and Ovarian Cancers
In 2007, recognizing the need to advance research progress for all cancers that affect women, the Executive Council announced a new goal to raise $5 million in support of the WCP Executive Council Genetic Fingerprinting Research Fund for Breast and Ovarian Cancers. Funds raised will support the following three initiatives:
Expanding the Core Infrastructure: Real-time Impact
Access to tissue, serum and patient data matched to these samples is critical for genetic research — without it, genetic analysis cannot occur. Researchers need to use these tissue samples in "real time;" working on human cancer requires high-quality specimens from real patients. Upon acquisition, the samples will be catalogued and distributed to investigators for immediate processing and analysis, in addition to being banked for future research projects.
Advancing Genetic Fingerprinting Research
Breast and ovarian cancers are comprised of many different diseases with unique and specific molecular pathways — unique "fingerprints." A focused effort is underway to decode the genetic fingerprints unique to each of these subtypes. This research is a critical first step in the process of developing innovative individualized or tailored treatments. Through genetic analysis, scientists can understand the differences between different types of cancers, such as why some tumors are more responsive to treatments, and which genetic targets drive cancer growth or drug resistance. These discoveries then have the potential to lead to new and more effective treatments for patients.
Funding Innovative Collaborative Projects
Funding for cutting-edge research can be difficult to secure, as research projects are most often not eligible for funding from traditional sources such as federal grants until "proof of principal" has been established. The WCP Executive Council Genetic Fingerprinting Research Fund plays a crucial role in advancing discovery by providing seed funding to support research in these initial stages. The resulting data can then be leveraged to obtain federal funding and other large grants to support the work underway.
For more information:
Contact: Lauren Hall
Phone: (617) 632-5546
Email: wcpec@dfci.harvard.edu
