Laura Bowers, PhD, MPH, a postdoc in the lab of Stephen Hursting, PhD, won the inaugural TOS-Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Challenge Award, sponsored by the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Bowers was selected among 40 entrants and was one of five finalists selected to present their research orally at the cancer section of the Obesity Society meeting.
Bowers’ talk, “Obesity-Associated Chemotherapy Resistance in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: The Role of Leptin-Induced Tumor-Initiating Cell Enrichment,” earned top honors, which included a $7,500 award.
Bower’s early research was funded by UNC Lineberger’s Cancer Control Education Program, and the work she presented was accomplished by Hursting’s labs at UNC-Chapel Hill and the UNC Nutrition Research Institute in Kannapolis.