The Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation has awarded $400,000 in grants to four researchers who are looking for a cure for breast cancer and better ways to treat the disease in those already diagnosed.
The foundation’s scientific advisory board chaired by founding member Nicholas Saccomano, PhD, reviewed almost 30 applications and conducted telephone interviews with the top six.
The 2021 grant recipients are:
Daniel L. Abravanel, MD, PhD – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – Harvard Medical School
Rachna Malani, MD – Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Douglas Micalizzi, MD, PhD – Massachusetts General Hospital – Harvard Medical School
Jennifer Rosenbluth, MD, PhD – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – Harvard Medical School
Go to TBBCF 2021 Grant Recipients to read about their research.
“The TBBCF was thrilled that we received 28 grant proposals this year from outstanding applicants from some of the most noted institutions in the Northeast including Dana-Farber, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Harvard Medical School and Yale. These proposals covered the gamut of cutting-edge breast cancer research.
Why does breast cancer relapse?
What predestines a normal cell to become malignant?
Why do some breast cancers become metastatic to the central nervous system?
The quality of this year’s proposals was so good that we wish we could have funded a dozen more.” according to John LaMattina, PhD, past board president and scientific advisory board co-chair.
In addition to Saccomano, who is chief scientific officer and senior vice president at Pfizer Boulder Research and Development, and LaMattina, the former president of Pfizer Global Research and Development, the advisory board includes Michael Garabedian, PhD, professor and course director at New York University Medical Center; Susan Logan, PhD, associate professor at New York University Medical Center; and Michael Morin, PhD, chief executive officer of Immunome Inc. All are founding members of TBBCF.
Each year the foundation raises money for the grants with its annual Walk Across Southeastern Connecticut marathon and with donations from cancer survivors, community members and businesses, and in 2020 with our virtual walkers across the country, who support the TBBCF mission of giving 100 percent of its fundraising dollars to breast cancer research. Since its founding in 2006, the New London-based foundation has raised over $5 million and awarded grants to over 50 researchers just starting out in their careers.
The 2021 research fellows, who will each receive $100,000 grants, will spend the next two years working on their projects.