Adrienne (Ada) Waks, MD, Medical Oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Featured in 'Face of TBBCF Research' Video
‘Research Matters’ is the theme of the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation’s signature fundraiser, the Walk for a Cure 2024. The Walk’s keynote speaker and honorary Walk Chair is medical oncologist Adrienne G. Waks, MD.
In 2018, TBBCF awarded the then-junior researcher a $100,000 research grant, which she used in 2021 to complete her clinical trial study. This study assessed the feasibility for oncologists to use reduced levels of breast cancer medications following successful breast cancer surgery. Focused on patients with non-metastatic HER2+ breast cancer, her trial called ‘DAPHNe: De-escalation to adjuvant antibodies post-pCR to neoadjuvant THP,’ was a pilot study in HER2-positive breast cancer.
Her findings were published in npj Breast Cancer, a multidisciplinary breast cancer research journal, and the Journal of the American Medical Association’s monthly peer-reviewed oncology journal. The study’s overarching goal was to see if it’s feasible to reduce the amount of chemotherapy needed for patients with non-metastatic, HER2+ breast cancer, thereby minimizing side effects.
Read more about Dr. Waks here and here.
As a TBBCF-supported breast cancer researcher, Dr. Waks is the face of the just-premiered ‘Face of TBBCF Research’ video. The film was produced by independent filmmakers Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker of Copper Pot Pictures. LaMattina is the son of TBBCF Board of Directors past president and a founding member of the Foundation, John LaMattina.
Copper Pot Pictures has been producing videos for the Foundation since 2011 when they produced one about researchers and one about the Walk for a Cure.
In 2019, Copper Pot traveled to Massachusetts General Hospital to film researchers. In 2023, the filmmakers produced a video series about the Walk. That four-part video series included a first-time walker, a Brodeur children's close friend and 10-year walker, a founding volunteer, the opening and closing ceremonies team captain and a breast cancer survivor/year-round volunteer.
Read more about Copper Pot Pictures and TBBCF here.
In the fall of 2023, Copper Pot Pictures began working on ‘Face of TBBCF Research’ and filmed Dr. Waks on April 18, 2024.
“Dr. Waks is amazing,” filmmaker Dave LaMattina said. “She’s a “huge asset to the organization. She was able to capture her work in a way that we think people will get and put it in the context of how impactful TBBCF was in getting her research done.”
Click here to watch the finished project, ‘Face of TBBCF Research’ by Copper Pot Pictures.
Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker travel the world searching for stories for Copper Pot Pictures.
After the success of their critically acclaimed documentary, I AM BIG BIRD, Dave and Chad began working across all mediums. Currently, their work as executive producers can be seen on Animal Planet’s THE ZOO, a high-profile docuseries set at the world-famous Bronx Zoo. They also recently traversed Africa for Sports Illustrated’s globe-trotting soccer travelogue EXPLORING PLANET FUTBOL, an SI Films series which they produced.
Their history as documentary filmmakers has led them to film everything from Arab Spring protests in Egypt’s Tahrir Square for their 2014 film WE MUST GO, which follows former US Soccer coach Bob Bradley as he helms the Egyptian national team, to shooting on Sesame Street for I AM BIG BIRD, which is about Caroll Spinney, the man who has been Sesame Street's Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since 1969. I AM BIG BIRD was released theatrically by Tribeca Film to sold out theaters and rave reviews from the likes of The New York Times, Time, The Today Show and Entertainment Weekly, and even inspired a “Top 10 list" on
The Late Show with David Letterman.
When not working on films or TV, Dave and Chad do freelance work for clients including Kellogg's, Major League Soccer, HBO, Leo Burnett and adidas.
Dave and Chad founded the company in 2007 alongside Clay Frost.