Roswell Park Faculty Member Named to Federal Panel on Breast Cancer Research

BUFFALO, NY — Christine B. Ambrosone, PhD, Chair of the Department of Cancer Prevention and Control and Professor of Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named to a new advisory committee that will develop a strategic federal research agenda on environmental and genetic factors related to breast cancer.   

Dr. Ambrosone, a member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Board of Scientific Advisors, is one of seven federal-agency representatives serving on the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee (IBCERCC), established by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in collaboration with the NCI. The 19-member committee also includes scientists, physicians and other health professionals, as well as advocates for people with breast cancer.

The committee is charged with reviewing all breast cancer research efforts conducted or supported by federal agencies. It will develop recommendations for the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies in order to improve existing research programs related to breast cancer research. Additionally, the IBCERCC will create a comprehensive plan to expand opportunities for collaborative, multidisciplinary research and develop a summary of advances in federal breast cancer research.

“The broad range of expertise and insight of these individuals will ensure the federal research portfolio continues to advance our understanding of the critical links between our environment, our genes, and our health,” said Linda Birnbaum, PhD, director of NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program (NTP).

“There’s been so much new information on the role of genetics in breast cancer coming to the fore in the last few years and expanding research on environmental influences on puberty and on breast cancer risk,” said Dr. Ambrosone, whose research focuses on molecular epidemiology and the role of gene-environment interactions in cancer risk. “So it makes great sense to re-evaluate federal funding priorities right now and chart a course for maximizing the effectiveness and the reach of these efforts.”

The first meeting of the IBCERCC will take place Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 2010, in the Washington, D.C., area.

The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute- designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1- 877-ASK-Roswell Park (1-877-275-7724) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.

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Annie Deck-Miller, Senior Media Relations Manager
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