Media contact: Bob Shepard
The funding will support 24 research projects at seven institutions in Alabama.The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama today announced a total investment of $1,275,000 in Alabama-based breast cancer research in 2022. Grants fund 24 research projects at seven institutions across the state, including the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Auburn University, CerFlux, the Mitchell Cancer Institute at the University of South Alabama, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama, and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. This year’s grant awards increase the BCRFA’s lifetime investment total to nearly $14 million since 1996.
“With this year’s historic investment in research, the BCRFA is proud to continue our legacy of driving breast cancer breakthroughs across Alabama,” said Beth Davis, BCRFA president and CEO. “From advances in early detection to treatment options, BCRFA-funded research is giving hope to the countless individuals touched by breast cancer — and ultimately saving lives.”
BCRFA dollars function as seed funding for early-stage studies, allowing researchers to generate the additional data needed to attract major national funding. Many BCRFA-funded projects have later received multimillion-dollar national grants from the National Institutes of Health and others.
“The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama has made remarkable investments in cancer research in our state, in particular by funding investigators and projects with significant potential to improve cancer outcomes,” said Barry P. Sleckman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The BCRFA has been an incredible partner, and we are grateful for their support.”
The 2022 grantees include:
Auburn University (Auburn, AL)
Alexei F. Kisselev, M.D., Highly Active Liposomal Formulation of Proteasome Inhibitor Carfilzomib for the Treatment of TNBC
In partnership with the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL)
Robert D. Arnold, Ph.D., (Auburn University) and Yuping Bao, Ph.D., (University of Alabama): Carrier-Free Quercetin Nanoparticles for Overcoming Breast Cancer Drug Resistance
CerFlux (Birmingham, AL)
Karim Budhwani, Ph.D., and Chelsea Crawford, Ph.D., Getting the Right Treatment to the Right Patient by Matching Regimens to Patient Biopsy Before Treatment
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology (Huntsville, AL)
Sara Cooper, Ph.D., Inherited Breast Cancer Risk Screening and Education – Historically Black Colleges and Universities Expansion
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL)
Deepa Bedi, M.D., Ph.D., Cancer Genomic Study to Characterize Genetic and Epigenetic Diversity of Immune Landscape in Triple Negative Breast Cancer in Women of African Ethnicity
University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL)
Rita Aneja, M.D., Evaluating Associations of Rurality and Neighborhood Disadvantage with Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Mortality Among Women in the State of Alabama
Smita Bhatia, M.D., Predicting the Risk of Heart Failure in Breast Cancer Survivors
James Bibb, Ph.D., and Tika Benveniste, Ph.D.: Cellular and Molecular Basis of the Neurological Effects of Chemotherapy
Anindya Dutta, Ph.D., FAM129B/NIBAN2 as a Biomarker for Therapy with NRF2 Inhibitors
Blake Eason Hildreth, III, Ph.D., Targeting CSF1R/PU.1 Signaling and PU.1 Superenhancer Regulation in Tumor Progression Across Breast Cancer Subtypes
Katia Khoury, M.D., Phase II Single Arm Trial of Low Dose Capecitabine in Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer
Jianmei Leavenworth, M.D., Ph.D., Hijacking Axonogenesis to Promote Breast Cancer by a Subset of Regulatory T Cells
Catherine Parker, M.D., Research Support for Breast Surgical Fellowship
Amr Rafat: Elucidating the Effects of Hypoxia on Ribosome Biogenesis in Breast Cancer
Bin Ren, M.D., Ph.D., and Lizhong Wang, M.D., Ph.D., Unique Arteriolar Niche in Expansion of Breast Cancer Stem Cells for Metastasis
Rajeev Samant, Ph.D., Identification of HIF-1a Interactors in the Nucleolus of Breast Cancer Cells
Lalita Shevde, Ph.D., A Novel Clinically Actionable Approach to Disable Resurgence and Metastasis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Keshav Singh, Ph.D., Intercellular Mitochondrial Trafficking as a Novel Mechanism in Breast Cancer Progression and Metastasis
Jia Xu, Ph.D., Developing Novel AKT Degrader to Selectively Inhibit the Growth of PI3K/AKT/PTEN Pathway Mutant Breast Cancer
Eddy Yang, M.D., and Zhuo Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., RNF2 Ablation Stimulates Durable NK-CD4+ T Cell-Dependent Anti-Tumor Immunity
Chao Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., Chronic Stress-Regulated Tumor-Neuroimmune Network in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
University of South Alabama Mitchell Cancer Institute (Mobile, AL)
Debanjan Chakroborty, Ph.D., WNK1, A Novel Regulator of Metastatic Breast Cancer
Luis del Pozo-Yauner, M.D., Ph.D., Contribution of PERK+ Polyploid Giant Cancer Cells in the Ethnic Disparity of Triple Negative Breast Cancer
Seema Singh, Ph.D., Influence of Stress on Immune Landscape and Spatial Heterogeneity of Breast Cancer