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With one in eight women living in the United States diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime—a startling statistic that impacts millions of individuals every year—the Breast Cancer Coalition has never believed that awareness is enough. On the contrary, the nonprofit organization has held an active presence in the community for more than two decades and believes in taking action to eradicate breast cancer through funding meaningful research.
Growing from humble beginnings where a group of breast cancer survivors gathered around a kitchen table in 1997 with a goal of supporting the local survivor community, the Breast Cancer Coalition has awarded over $1 million in seed grants to regional researchers to date.
Aiming to examine the cause, prevention, prevention of metastasis, and cure of breast cancer, the Breast Cancer Coalition Research Initiativeawards seed grants of $25,000 and $50,000 on a yearly basis that have the potential to yield significant medical breakthroughs. Such breakthroughs are happening right here in Rochester.
Isaac Harris is a researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center and Wilmot Cancer Institute. In 2020, he received a $50,000 seed grant from the Coalition for his project, “Uncovering the roles of extracellular glutathione in triple negative breast cancer.” His proposal aimed to examine how antioxidants—commonly known to be supportive of health and general vitality—can also help cancers survive. “If we actually look at the cancer cell itself, how does it make these antioxidants?” says Harris. “And if we can block either the production or utilization of these antioxidants, could we have a new way of killing the cancer cell?”
While seed funding cannot sustain a multiyear research project, it does help researchers gather enough preliminary data to support their initial hypotheses. Harris received the Coalition’s grant in 2020 that provided him with the resources to collect that needed data to acquire a federal grant of nearly $2 million the following year. Currently, the Harris Lab is working to translate its research findings into clinical trials, and ultimately, new therapies for patients.
Triple negative breast cancer is a very aggressive subtype that disproportionately impacts Black women. Harris’ research could, as he shares, “potentially affect an underserved community.” Furthermore, through his findings, he believes that the role antioxidants play in triple negative breast cancer cell growth could be similar in other breast cancer subtypes. Such findings could have significant implications in cancer research.
This is the power of seed funding. As a small but mighty community-based organization, the Breast Cancer Coalition works at a grassroots level to provide opportunities for researchers in Rochester and the region to gain valuable insights into what causes breast cancer and how to find a cure.
On June 17, the Coalition awarded a total of $100,000 in seed grants to three scientists from the region, funding more than $1.2 million in research since the initiative began. The Sylvia Cappellino Breast Cancer Research Faculty Grant was awarded to Ajay Dhakal M.D., a medical oncologist at the Wilmot Cancer Institute in the amount of $50,000. Recipients of the Pamela Delp Polashenski M.D. Breast Cancer Research Trainee Grant were Fatemeh Alimohammadi and Zachary Robert Smith, doctoral candidates at the University of Rochester. Each received $25,000.
In the coming years, the Coalition plans to welcome proposals from researchers examining gynecologic cancers as well.
From a group of women sitting at a kitchen table nearly 30 years ago, to serving thousands of breast and gynecologic cancer survivors every year, to advocating for local, state, and national legislation, to funding innovative projects that “plant the seed” for potentially groundbreaking discoveries in cancer research, the Breast Cancer Coalition is motivated.
Motivated to be an active participant in creating a reality in which one day, the threats of breast and gynecologic cancers are behind us. As founder Sylvia Cappellino once said, “Then, and only then, will we close our doors and go home.”
Until we reach that day, the work continues.
Helana Shumway is public relations coordinator at the Breast Cancer Coalition, which serves 27 counties in Western and Central New York. All programs and services are available at no cost to breast and gynecologic cancer survivors from the point of diagnosis onward. To learn more or to get support today, email [email protected] or call (585) 473-8177.
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