Thursday, March 13, 2014

BCRFA Presents Annual Donation

BCRFA Co-Founders Bruce Sokol and Dolly O'Neal,
2014 Honoree Jean Thompson and
CCC Director Dr. Ed Partridge
Last week, I had the pleasure of accepting, on behalf of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, this year's donation from one of the Cancer Center's most loyal and longstanding community partners, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama

The BCRFA hosts events and other fundraising opportunities throughout the year, and in turn donates all of its proceeds to the Cancer Center for breast cancer research. This year these dedicated volunteers presented us with a check for $500,000!

The Cancer Center hosted a special luncheon for the BCRFA and several of its supporters, which gave us the opportunity to present updates on the research being funded by their donation. Dr. Andres Forero, one of our leading breast cancer specialists, explained several promising research projects that could potentially change the way some breast cancers are treated. Many of those projects involve drugs and therapeutic agents developed here at UAB, using the very money provided by the BCRFA.   

What began as a small grassroots effort with just a few people has turned into an amazing organization that, to date, has raised more than $4.5 million for breast cancer research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. That support has helped turn the Cancer Center's breast cancer research and clinical enterprise into one of the premier programs in the United States.

The support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama is critical to our success here at the Cancer Center, and I am proud to have them as a community partner. I again want to thank the BCRFA board and staff for all of their hard work in taking the organization forward. They truly set the standard for a group who wants to make a difference in the fight against cancer. The Cancer Center and I thank them for their support.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.