Susan G. Komen® has awarded Melissa Troester, PhD, MPH, a two-year, $200,000 leadership grant to support her investigations of the clinical impact of spatial heterogeneity in a tumor. Komen’s commitment to Troester and the Carolina Breast Cancer Study began in 2021, and this extension will build off recent findings.
Troester, a Komen scholar, co-leader of the UNC Lineberger Cancer Epidemiology Research Program and a professor of epidemiology at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, will use the grant to support the evaluation of tumor and DNA samples from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study and will link the composition of immune cells to breast cancer recurrence in Black and white North Carolinians. The project will elucidate how variations contribute to racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes and recurrence.
In its latest round of research awards, Komen is providing $10.05 million in research funding that is focused on improving patient lives through better treatments for metastatic disease and advancements in precision medicine. The 32 grants continue Komen’s long-standing support of breast cancer researchers early in their careers, as well as the world’s leaders in the field.
“Susan G. Komen’s work is not complete until we can save all lives from breast cancer, and the research we’re funding today is helping people with breast cancer to live longer with better outcomes,” said Paula Schneider, president and CEO of Komen, and a breast cancer survivor. “Komen’s grants will give promising scientists who are in pivotal stages of their careers the support they need to become the next generation of breast cancer leaders and advance research to save more lives.”