Susan G. Komen for the Cure Announces 2009 Grants Totaling $60 Million
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Announces 2009 Grants Totaling $60 Million
Susan G. Komen for the Cure has announced that it will award $60 million in grants this year to U.S. and international scientists to accelerate cures, eliminate disparities, and improve diagnoses for breast cancer.
Four grants totaling $25.7 million will be awarded through Komen's Promise Grants program, which supports investigators from different disciplines — and sometimes different institutions — who are working to solve difficult challenges in breast cancer. Through the program, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Duke University will receive $6.8 million; Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia will receive $6.7 million; the University of Alabama at Birmingham will receive $6.4 million; and Indiana University will receive $5.8 million. The University of Alabama grant will be co-funded by the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation.
Projects funded by Komen this year will include efforts to address breast cancer among African-American women, establish mammography guidelines for women age 70 and older, research early detection and prevention strategies for triple negative breast cancer, and study combination therapies to enhance treatment effectiveness.
"Cancer research has been the cornerstone of our organization since our very first year, and despite the downturn in the economy, our pledge to fund quality research remains unabated," said Komen president and CEO Hala Moddelmog. "Breast cancer doesn't care about the economy, and with more than 1.3 million new cases of breast cancer expected this year, the need for new and continuing cancer research is more urgent than ever."
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