To End Breast Cancer.
Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research challenges the status quo to end breast cancer and improve the lives of people impacted by it now through education and advocacy. The Foundation drives collaborative, cutting-edge research with nontraditional partners, brings to light the collateral damage of treatment and seeks ways to diminish it, and interprets science to empower patients. Fast, flexible, and project-based, the Foundation actively engages the public in scientific research to ensure that it produces accurate and meaningful results.
Here is a sampling of our key projects – and our reasons for pursuing them:
Because in order to prevent a disease, you need to understand how and where it starts…
The Microbiome Study of the Breast Ducts: Does Breast Cancer Begin with A Virus? – Understanding the role naturally-occurring microorganisms play in disease progression is so vital, the National Institutes of Health invested $170 Million dollars to map the human microbiome in 2008. Unfortunately, the human breast was left out of that initiative. Partnering with Atossa Therapeutics, Johns Hopkins University, and Houston Methodist Cancer Center, we are doing the research nobody else is doing by comparing the microbiome of breast ducts with cancer to ducts without cancer. We believe by better understanding the microbiome of the breast, that like HPV, we may be able to link breast cancer to a virus and perhaps, one day create a vaccine.
Mapping the Breast Ducts with NASA– Nearly 80% of all breast cancers are believed to begin in the lining of the breast ducts, however, the anatomy of the human breast is largely unmapped territory. What if surgeons had a “GPS” allowing them to deliver treatment directly to a tumor? Through unique partnerships with QT Ultrasound® and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, we aim to do just that by creating the first 3-D models of the human breast duct system.
Looking Beyond Mammograms: Self-Reading Portable Ultrasound – Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women, especially young women, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Most breast cancer in women under 50 presents as lumps they can feel, however, mammographic screening is often less available and less effective on younger women. To make things more challenging, 80% of lumps in young women are likely to be benign, leading to unnecessary stress and sometimes biopsy. In 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a $3 million grant to Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research to continue the development of a technology aimed at addressing this serious issue for women’s health. By pairing a hand-held ultrasound device with artificial intelligence, within minutes a healthcare worker could inform a woman if a lump is benign or something that requires more testing.
Because breast cancer happens in people, research needs to involve human beings to generate meaningful results…
Love Research Army – Bringing together people of every gender, race, and ethnicity, with and without breast cancer, and those at high risk, to be a resource for leading researchers addressing critical questions.
Metastatic Breast Cancer Collateral Damage Project – Crowdsourcing information from people with metastatic breast cancer to fully understand the life-altering impact of the disease and its treatment and then develop a set of recommendations on how to improve their quality of life. (Study now closed.)
Because empowering patients with vital information requires deft interpretation, engaging presentation, and wide reach…
ImPatient Science – Translating breast cancer science and medicine into digestible segments of easy-to-grasp information in a series of videos featuring Dr. Susan Love.
Breast Cancer Explained – Providing a wealth of information drawn from Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book – “the bible for women with breast cancer” (The New York Times) on our website.
Research Worth Watching – Dr. Love breaking down current and emerging scientific research and concepts to educate patients and their families via blogs, webinars, and other digital media.
One more breast cancer diagnosis is one too many. We must be the generation that ends it once and for all.
— Dr. Susan Love