Breast Cancer Researcher Meets with Bridgeport Supporters

(L to R) Shantana Hazel of Bridgeport with American Cancer Society-funded researcher Ryan B. Jensen at Yale University during a tour of Dr. Jensen’s Lab in New Haven with Linda Greatheart of West Haven.

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, approved funding of a research grant totaling $792,000 to a scientist at Yale University. Dr. Ryan B. Jensen, Assistant Professor of Therapeutic Radiology at Yale School of Medicine, began work on his project titled, ‘Elucidating Cancer Risk in Homology-Directed Repair Variants.’

In honor of national breast cancer awareness month, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer participants across Connecticut and the US will help save lives by raising the necessary dollars to help fund groundbreaking research projects such as Dr. Jensen’s. There is a two-mile walk on Sunday, October 22, 2017 in Seaside Park in Bridgeport at 9 AM Registration, 10 AM Walk. Click here to register for Bridgeport Making Strides.

“The generous support from the American Cancer Society and its donors will ensure our lab will continue our investigations into DNA repair and will ultimately help to more precisely determine the genetic risk each person has of developing cancer,” Jensen said.

Jensen’s lab is working to understand how failures in DNA repair contribute to both cancer risk and improved treatment strategies. Their focus has been on genes involved in repair of DNA double-strand breaks, such as BRCA2, which when inherited in a mutant form predisposes an individual to high-risk for breast, ovarian, and other epithelial cancers.

As the world’s largest voluntary health organization, the American Cancer Society’s efforts have contributed to a 35 percent drop in breast cancer death rates since 1990. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, and is the most commonly diagnosed among women, after skin cancer. This year an estimated 246,000 women will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States, including over 3,200 Connecticut residents.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the Society has invested more than $4.5 billion in research since 1946 that has helped with the research and training of health professionals to investigate the causes, prevention, and early detection of cancer, as well as new treatments, cancer survivorship, and end of life support for patients and their families. Currently there are 21 research grants in effect totaling more than $10.3 million in funding at Connecticut institutions.