Dear Friends,
Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation is, as you likely know by now, dedicated to a future without breast cancer. For us, that means conducting research into the cause of breast cancer so we can learn how to stop it before it starts. This isn’t a popular area of research. Cure is much sexier. Cure means you’re fixing people and that makes you a savior.
But “cure” also means treating cancer after it’s formed and found. We feel the price of treating cancer is simply too high. The physical, psychological, emotional, and financial toll of treating cancer leaves a person and her/his family depleted. We’re documenting this in our Quality of Life questionnaire within the Health of Women (HOW) Study™.
Researching cause, like all research, is complicated. We know there are many factors, from genetic to environmental to complete randomness, that affect risk, but we still don’t have enough information to point to the specific moment when a person’s breast duct cells change.
We conduct research in several ways: directly, in studies funded and carried out by the Foundation, under Dr. Love’s leadership; in collaboration with other researchers and institutions where we can lend our expertise or resources; and by facilitating it through the Army of Women®.
The studies we are engaged in focus on issues like mapping the breast ducts and understanding the biome of the breast, or bugs (bacteria and viruses) in the breast. We do not know which line of thinking will lead to the next breakthrough, so we’ll keep pursuing as many as we can for as long as it takes.
Our biggest challenge isn’t which study to launch next, or which line of thought to pursue. Dr. Love is never at a loss for ideas. If we had unlimited resources, Dr. Love could keep an Army of Researchers busy in labs and clinics around the country. For now, we go with her best ideas first and use our resources cautiously and wisely.
On that note, I want to add my voice to the chorus of thanks to the more than 1000 walkers, runners, and supporters around the country who made last Sunday’s Walk with Love a resounding success! Our sponsors this year were more generous than ever, and that generosity fully underwrote the cost of running the event itself. That means that all of the money raised by participants goes directly to support Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation research and programs. That’s a big deal in the nonprofit world.
Based on our history, you can feel confident when you donate to Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation. We have received a 4-star Charity Navigator rating for three consecutive years, putting it in the top 12% of rated charities in terms of fiscal performance, accountability and transparency and we are a GuideStar Exchange Silver Level participant and a member of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.
On behalf of Dr. Love and myself, thank you to everyone who took part in Walk with Love in any way; from our individual walker registrants to our top performing team DrTaras.com and #BreastCar; from the incredibly generous sponsors like the Sharon D. Lund Foundation, to the in-kind donors who helped fill our gift bags. We could not do the important work of our mission without you walking by our side.
With profound gratitude,
Heather