By Paul Tuthill
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-962680.mp3
Springfield, MA – A new breast cancer research center is being established in Western Massachusetts. The initial funding for it comes from thousands of people who participated in a local fundraising effort WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports .
The Rays Of Hope Center for Breast Cancer Research in Springfield will be a unique collaboration of laboratory researchers and clinical investigators, who will focus on finding the best treatments for different types of patients, and on identifying ways to prevent breast cancer, according to the co-director of the new center, Dr Joseph Jerry .
A major research goal of the new center is to examine links between obesity and breast cancer and what those links could mean for prevention, diagnosis and management of the disease.
Although mortality rates from breast cancer have been declining, it remains the most prevalent of cancers, affecting one in 8 women, according to the American Cancer Society.
The new breast cancer research center will be part of an existing biomedical facility located in Springfield..the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute. It was created nearly a decade ago by a partnership between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Baystate Hospital.
The breast cancer research center's other co-director, Dr. Grace Makari-Judson says about 60 people will work for the center
Makari-Judson says the center's research agenda will consist of local priorities established with the help of an advocacy group .
The initial funding for the breast cancer research center one point five million dollars is being donated by the Baystate Health Foundation, which raised the money with its annual Rays of Hope walk..Carol Baribeau, the director of Annual Fund and Events for the foundation, says the walk , now in its 17th year has raised more than 9 million dollars that has been put into an array of breast cancer programs, including individual research projects..
Julie Bloniasz of Springfield a breast cancer survivor who was on hand for Monday's announcement about the research center, says she hopes it encourages more people to participate in this fall's Rays of Hope walk
Bloniasz and her mother first participated in the fundraiser 11 years ago....Two years ago, she was diagnosed with breast cancer..