total funding
Total funding released for research (2012 – 2022): $1,684,360.54
We attend research meetings, serve on grant committee’s, advocate, educate and run online support groups, just to list a few ways we spend our time.
However, we are intensely focused on funding high quality research, because we feel research matters.
funding history:
2022
May
Funding: $5,000
Sponsorship for this continuing medical education (CME) activity aims to enhance the knowledge of oncologists in the management of advanced breast cancer and how to implement the emerging therapies and cutting edge techniques into day-to-day practice. (More information)
March
Funding: $50,000
Vanderbilt to Dr. Justin Balko to fulfill the agreement.
2021
November
Funding: $50,000
Vanderbuilt to Dr. Justin Balko for standing agreement
November
Funding: $5,000
Matched donation to MD Anderson Boot Walk to End Cancer.
September
Funding: $5,000
Dana Farber for a matching research grant to support the Jimmy Walk Team IBC
June
Funding: $37,500
Duke University to Dr. Gay Devi for standing agreetment
February
Funding: $50,000
Vanderbilt to Dr. Justin Balko for standing agreement
2020
January
Funding: $37,500
January 10, 2020 – Duke University to Dr. Gay Devi for standing agreement
Funding: $5,000
January 9, 2020 – MD Anderson for matching research grant for Boot Walk Team IBC Wranglers
2019
December
Funding: $50,000
To Vanderbilt for standing agreement
October
Funding: $50,000
To Dr. Lucci of MD Anderson for blood biopsy research
September
Funding: $5,000
To Dana Farber for a matching research grant to support the Jimmy Walk Team IBC
April
Funding: $75,000
With a portion of the funds raised by the Carter Lee family in their biennial Hunt for Hope, The IBC Network Foundation was able to donate $75,000 the Morgan Welch Clinic at MD Anderson. This will be used to understand the inflammasome pathway and perform preclinical studies towards targeting this in IBC. This work will be under the direction of Jason Lee.
The IBC Network Foundation was pleased to offer $75,000 to Dr. Jason Lee to research and understand the inflammasome pathway and perform preclinical studies towards targeting this in IBC.
April
Funding: $25,000
The IBC Network Foundation was pleased to offer the remaining $25,000 grant to Dr. Anthony Lucci for his research project entitled “Developing Liquid Biopsy Profiles for Inflammatory Breast Cancer patients” We know IBC can and does change and become more resistant as it metastasizes making a true understanding of the underlying biological nature of the disease of utmost importance. Finding a way to overcome these limitations by studying the blood samples of patients with “liquid biopsies” is a novel and needed way to follow the different components revealed in blood samples, to provide additional information that could be vital in the realization of new and effective treatment plans.
2018
December
Funding: $75,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported MD Anderson’s Morgan Welch Clinic clinical trial under the direction of Dr. Ueno. The project is to determine if the addition of a statin to standard therapy will be effective in reducing the chance of IBC/TNBC recurrence. This funding is part of a three year commitment, with $75,000 to be released each Spring and Fall. This is the final grant of the three year commitment for this clinical trial.
November
Funding: $50,000
The IBC Network Foundation was pleased to offer a grant to Dr. Anthony Lucci for his research project entitled “Developing Liquid Biopsy Profiles for Inflammatory Breast Cancer patients” We know IBC can and does change and become more resistant as it metastasizes making a true understanding of the underlying biological nature of the disease of utmost importance. Finding a way to overcome these limitations by studying the blood samples of patients with “liquid biopsies” is a novel and needed way to follow the different components revealed in blood samples, to provide additional information that could be vital in the realization of new and effective treatment plans.
October
Funding: $5,000
For the 3rd year, MD Anderson has a campaign to allow departments to fund-raise, in a new effort called the Boot Walk to #endcancer. In support of this effort, we offered a match of $5,000 All funds will be used for IBC research.
June
Funding: $5,000
We supported the TEAM IBC at the Jimmy Walk at Dana Farber. This unique drive allows funds to go directly to the Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) Program at the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This specialized program is the only one of its kind in the northeast and provides expert care, research projects targeting IBC, and education and support programs.
April
Funding: $75,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported MD Anderson’s Morgan Welch Clinic clinical trial under the direction of Dr. Ueno. The project is to determine if the addition of a statin to standard therapy will be effective in reducing the chance of IBC/TNBC recurrence. This funding is part of a three year commitment, with $75,000 to be released each Spring and Fall. This is year three of the three year commitment.
February
Funding: $25,000
The IBC Network Foundation pledged $100,000 to support Gayathri Devi, PhD, Program Director, Duke Consortium for IBC and her team’s research in the area of developing models to characterize inflammatory breast cancer metastasis to the brain. A more detailed report of the research will be posted as soon as possible.
2017
November
Funding: $5,000
November 5, 2017 – For the 2nd year, MD Anderson has a campaign to allow departments to fund-raise, in a new effort called the Boot Walk to #endcancer. In support of this effort, we offered a match of $5,000 All funds will be used for IBC research.
Funding: $75,000
*November 27, 2017 – The IBC Network Foundation supported MD Anderson’s Morgan Welch Clinic clinical trial under the direction of Dr. Ueno. The project is to determine if the addition of a statin to standard therapy will be effective in reducing the chance of IBC/TNBC recurrence. This trial is based on considerable rationale from the Morgan Welch clinic that in preclinical models, statins reduce inflammation and target treatment-resistant cells (called cancer stem cells). This is a randomized phase II study that will be held at MD Anderson Cancer Center under the direction of Dr. Ueno. This funding is part of a three year commitment that started in the summer of 2016.
*Due to this funding, we have put over 1 million dollars into research! Thank you!
October
Funding: $26,000
October 24, 2017 – When we first heard in late December 2016 about the project in van Golen’s lab we had committed all our 2016 funding but we felt so passionately about this project, we requested to grant the funds in three payments to total $52,000. Today we have completed our current support of the project under the director of Dr. Kenneth van Golen, as outlined in our December 2016 funding.
Funding: $2,500
October 27, 2017 – We supported the TEAM IBC at the Jimmy Walk at Dana Farber. This unique drive allows funds to go directly to the Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) Program at the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This specialized program is the only one of its kind in the northeast and provides expert care, research projects targeting IBC, and education and support programs.
June
Funding: $50,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported new research at Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center under the direction of Justin Balko, Pharm.D., Ph.D. and Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D. The goal of this grant is to utilize existing models of inflammatory breast cancer and generate additional models that can be studied on a molecular level to advance therapies for both triple-negative and inflammatory breast cancer. This funding is part the second part of a one year commitment.
March
Funding: $102,560.54
March 27, 2017 – The IBC Network Foundation supported MD Anderson’s Morgan Welch Clinic preclinical studies under the direction of Dr. Wendy Woodward. The research to be conducted is to test the hypothesis that targeting the normal cells in the breast stroma (such as macrophages) that help IBC act badly will improve outcomes because IBC is specifically driven by these cells. MD Anderson will test several new drugs to try to take the breaks off the immune system to test this hypothesis. They propose to combine exciting new immunotherapy drugs with the standard treatment of using drugs targeting the tumor. If this hypothesis proves to be true in the lab, clinical trials could follow very quickly. Some aggressive non-IBC tumors are also helped by normal cells and these studies should help people with other types of cancer as well.
The total required for this project is $62,500. Due to the overwhelming success of the Alligator’s Hunt for Hope, raising $102,560.54 we will fund this project as well as an additional project at the Morgan Welch Clinic.
Funding: $75,000
March 27, 2017 – The IBC Network Foundation supported MD Anderson’s Morgan Welch Clinic clinical trial under the direction of Dr. Ueno. The project is to determine if the addition of a statin to standard therapy will be effective in reducing the chance of IBC/TNBC recurrence. This funding is part of a three year commitment, with $75,000 to be release each Spring and Fall. This is year two of the three year commitment.
February
Funding: $12,000
The IBC Network Foundation is starting off the new year by continuing the support of the project under the director of Dr. Kenneth van Golen, as outlined in our December 2016 funding.
2016
December
Funding: $14,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported a research project at University of Delaware under the direction of Dr.Kenneth van Golen. The overall project is based on previous observations made by Dr. van Golen’s lab with Dr. Steven Van Laere in Belgium and is meant to put some translational biology to observations they have made both in culture and in patient samples regarding TGFbeta expression and signaling. The overall goal is to understand how skin metastases occur in IBC and eventually find a way to block their formation.
Funding: $50,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported new translational research at Dana Farber Cancer Institute under the direction of Dr. Beth Overmoyer. The DF/HCC phase II trial of preoperative therapy for HER2 positive inflammatory breast cancer. The molecular analysis of inflammatory breast cancer reveals a propensity to segregate into more proliferative intrinsic subtypes, such as HER2 positive (+).
August
Funding: $11,800
August 23, 2016 – For the first time, MD Anderson has a campaign to allow departments to fund-raise, in a new effort called the Boot Walk to #endcancer. In support of this effort, we offered to match the first $5,000 donated. All funds will be used for IBC research.
July
Funding: $30,000
July 7, 2016 – The IBC Network Foundation supported new translational research at Dana Farber Cancer Institute under the direction of Dr. Beth Overmeyor. The DF/HCC phase II trial of preoperative therapy for HER2 positive inflammatory breast cancer. The molecular analysis of inflammatory breast cancer reveals a propensity to segregate into more proliferative intrinsic subtypes, such as HER2 positive (+). Studies demonstrate a 30-40% incidence of HER2+ disease among IBC, which is more than twice the incidence in non-IBC. The prevalence of HER2+ IBC and the availability of agents targeting HER2 support investigation into the optimal preoperative regimen incorporating HER2 targeting agents. DF/HCC has an ongoing preoperative trial evaluating combination therapies in patients with newly diagnosed HER2+ IBC, with the goal of maximizing HER2-directed therapy and minimizing chemotherapy exposure.
This clinical trial includes patients with HER2+ Stage III IBC (male or female) who are eligible if they have not received prior therapy for breast cancer and are willing to undergo 2 research biopsies of the affected breast for correlative assays (funded by this grant). Tumor biopsy specimens are obtained to investigate the following: (1) To determine whether the pre-treatment status of the tumor predicts HER2-resistance, next-generation sequencing technology will be employed to explore gene expression patterns including PAM50-based intrinsic subtyping. This investigation will be done in collaboration with investigators at Harvard Medical School, the University of North Carolina and at the University of Michigan. The results of this trial will not only provide key information about the biology of IBC and the mechanisms of HER2 therapy resistance, but will support a treatment paradigm that will spare countless women with IBC the toxicity of unnecessary chemotherapy which is administered based upon clinical trial results that involve insufficient numbers of IBC patients.
The total required for this project is $100,000. The IBC Network Foundation has committed to this project and funded the first portion on July 7, 2016 and the remaining $50,000 will be funded in December 2016.
We arranged to co-fund the first portion of this project with the Karen Oldman Foundation. The Karen Oldman Foundation contributed $20,000 and The IBC Network Foundation contributed $30,000 for a total grant of $50,000. We truly extend our most heartfelt thanks for Suzanne Mader and the board of the Karen Oldman Foundation for their support.
June
Funding: $50,000
June 1, 2016 – The IBC Network Foundation supported new research at Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center under the direction of Justin Balko, Pharm.D., Ph.D. and Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D. The goal of this grant is to utilize existing models of inflammatory breast cancer and generate additional models that can be studied on a molecular level to advance therapies for both triple-negative and inflammatory breast cancer. In addition, they will try to understand how the individual cells within these models are influenced by factors called ‘cytokines’. Ultimately, they hope that improving our understanding of the role of these factors across IBC and TNBC models will result in new therapies to better treat patients with these unique and devastating subtypes of breast cancer.
The total required for this project is $100,000. The IBC Network Foundation has committed to this project and funded $50,000 on June 1, 2016 and the remaining $50,000 will be funded June 2017.
February
Funding: $150,000
February 15, 2016 – The IBC Network Foundation supported MD Anderson’s Morgan Welch Clinic clinical trial under the direction of Dr. Ueno. The project is to determine if the addition of a statin to standard therapy will be effective in reducing the chance of IBC/TNBC recurrence. This trial is based on considerable rationale from the Morgan Welch clinic that in preclinical models, statins reduce inflammation and target treatment-resistant cells (called cancer stem cells). This is a randomized phase II study that will be held at MD Anderson Cancer Center under the direction of Dr. Ueno. (Please note that the preclinical work for this trial was originally funded by our foundation in May of 2013, a history making event. This current grant is to our knowledge the only patient-advocate funded clinical trial)
This will be a three year project that started in the summer of 2016. This initial funding was possible in large part from the proceeds of an event inspired by an IBC patient, Ashleigh Royalty Range.
February
Funding: $7,500
The IBC Network Foundation supported a research project at University of Delaware under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Van Golen. The overall project is based on previous observations made by Dr. Van Golen’s lab with Dr. Steven Van Laere in Belgium and is meant to put some translational biology to observations they have made both in culture and in patient samples regarding TGFbeta expression and signaling. The overall goal is to understand how skin metastases occur in IBC and eventually find a way to block their formation.
2015
November
Funding: $50,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and Dr. Arteaga and Dr. Balko’s research through a discovery grant—seed funding for scientists to pursue bold research ideas that can lead to breakthrough discoveries. The research will examine genetic alterations in patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Inflammatory Breast Cancer to help guide a more precise treatment. Vanderbilt investigators were the first to identify and explore a particular variance – amplification of the JAK2 gene – which may lead to rapid disease progression and possibly resistance to chemotherapy. Improving our understanding of this alteration and associated therapies could ultimately reduce disease recurrence and mortality.
April
Funding total $83,000
Due to a special “Alligator’s Hunt for Hope” hosted via the family of Carter Lee, The IBC Network Foundation is able to start early in the year of 2015 by underwriting research. In the “Axl Project” under Xiaoping Wang, Ph.D, she found that IBC tissue samples from patients, but not normal breast tissue samples from patients, have high levels of TIG1 protein (Tazarotene-induced gene-1 (TIG1) is a protein which has been implicated as a putative tumor suppressor). Levels of TIG1 protein are also higher in IBC cell lines than in non-inflammatory breast cancer cell lines. Dr. Wang also found that IBC patients with high levels of TIG1 protein have a shorter survival duration than those with low-expressing tumors. When the amount of TIG1 protein in IBC cells is experimentally reduced, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of these cells significantly slows down, suggesting that TIG1 protein may promote the growth and invasion of IBC cells. More importantly, when IBC cells with reduced amount of TIG1 protein were injected into mice, they generated much smaller tumors compared to original IBC cells, suggesting that TIG1 protein may promotes tumor growth. Also she found that the effects of TIG1 in IBC may be mediated by a protein called receptor tyrosine kinase Axl. IBC patient samples with high levels of TIG1 protein frequently also have high levels of Axl protein. When they treated IBC cells with Axl inhibitor, they found the proliferation, migration, and invasion of IBC cells were significantly reduced. In summary, this work has demonstrated that TIG1 is one factor responsible for the aggressiveness of IBC and TIG1 and Axl proteins are potential therapeutic targets for patients with IBC.
The minimum funding required for the research is $50,000. The Alligator’s Hunt for Hope raised $83,000 which was funded April 6, 2014.
2014
December
Funding: $50,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and Dr. Arteaga and Dr. Balko’s research through a discovery grant—seed funding for scientists to pursue bold research ideas that can lead to breakthrough discoveries. The research will examine genetic alterations in patients with Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Inflammatory Breast Cancer to help guide a more precise treatment. Vanderbilt investigators were the first to identify and explore a particular variance – amplification of the JAK2 gene – which may lead to rapid disease progression and possibly resistance to chemotherapy. Improving our understanding of this alteration and associated therapies could ultimately reduce disease recurrence and mortality.
The total required for this project is $100,000.
November
The IBC Network Foundation supported the research of Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. The purpose of the grant is to further research by sponsoring seed funding for what is commonly referred to as a “blood biopsy” The study is titled “Novel non-invasive markers for the early detection of inflammatory breast cancer through comprehensive genomic profiling”. Currently, IBC lacks a molecular definition and known genetic markers, making early diagnosis difficult. The goal of this study is to identify genomic markers using the latest DNA sequencing technologies (next-generation sequencing/NGS) that are specific for IBC, so that they might be used in the future to non-invasively identify IBC prior to symptoms developing. Earlier diagnosis of IBC will allow earlier treatment which will improve patient outcomes in this aggressive disease.
Funding was scheduled for $70,000. We arranged to co-fund this project with the Karen Oldman Foundation. The Karen Oldman Foundation contributed $25,000 and The IBC Network Foundation contributed $45,000 for a total grant of $70,000. We truly extend our most heartfelt thanks for Suzanne Mader and the board of the Karen Oldman Foundation for their support.
ADDENDUM October 2016 Due to staff changes at Jefferson, not allowing this research to be completed, the grant was refunded to the two supporting charities in full. Future grant applications from the principal investigator will be considered if/when received.
February
Funding: $50,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported the research of Dr. Bisrat Debeb, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX. The purpose of the grant is to further research in the area of Inflammatory Breast Cancer, specifically to research the therapeutic targeting of a key regulator of brain metastasis. Brain metastases occur in about 40% of HER2+ IBC patients and 30% of triple-negative IBC patients and are a frequent cause of death due to the lack of effective treatments.
2013
Funding: $75,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported the research of Dr. Ueno on the effects of statins as adjuvant therapy in IBC. Statins are commonly used drugs to lower cholesterol, and retrospective analysis showed that IBC patients who were already taking a statin on average had improved progression-free survival. However, the biological effects of statins in IBC preclinical models and in combination with standard therapies were not previously known. This grant was aimed at filling that gap in knowledge, a necessary pre-requisite to launching a prospective clinical trial to determine whether taking a statin would increase outcomes in IBC patients who don’t otherwise need to decrease their cholesterol. This trial has now been funded by a subsequent grant in February 2016.
2012
Our first project.
Funding: $30,000
The IBC Network Foundation supported a clinical trial of an HDAC inhibitor for decreasing the symptoms from pleural effusion under the direction of Dr. Wendy Woodward, an IBC specialist at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Pleural effusions (PE) are rapid collections of fluid in the surface of the lungs due to tumor cells growing there, causing considerable respiratory symptoms. PEs are not uncommon sites of metastasis in IBC, and unfortunately the outlook is currently bleak due to the lack of specific therapies. Death from IBC pleural effusion can be slow and not painless. Can you imagine not being able to breathe? We hope that successfully completing this trial will not only directly benefit the patients on this trial, but future fighters as well. We issued funding for this project April 30, 2012 at MD Anderson in the Mays Clinic main lobby. Thank you for making our first project, named in honor of Lori Grennan a reality.