By Hannah Buckelew
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA) has announced funding for three pre-R01 grants through the fall cycle of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center’s O’Neal Invests program. Mary Kathryn “M.K.” Sewell-Loftin, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering is a recipient of one of these grants for her project titled, “The Role of Biomedical Regulation in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.”

The O’Neal Invests program at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB seeks to promote excellence in the areas of basic, population and translational science research relevant to cancer. The program supports nascent, paradigm-shifting cancer research proposed by UAB faculty. These are novel ideas with considerable promise and potential impact in the field of cancer care; they are likely to lead to extramural funding, as determined by a peer-reviewed panel of experts. Pre-R01 grants are for $160,000 distributed over two years.