Hispanic women needed to donate healthy breast tissue for Komen Tissue Bank

Please join the Women's Fund of Central Indiana in participating in Indy's Super Cure–a joint project with the Super Bowl 2012 and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center. The Indianapolis Star has provided great coverage about this incredible effort and opportunity. Visit IndyStar making Super Cure a success. The group is very specifically trying to increase the knowledge and participation from the Hispanic community in this effort.

The purpose of the Komen Tissue Bank is to provide researchers across the globe with the highest quality of normal breast tissue, blood samples, and biomolecules. The goal of the tissue bank is to accelerate the understanding of the causes of breast cancer so it can be prevented.

The partnership was inspired by Traci Runge who donated a healthy breast tissue sample for cancer research in 2007, then subsequently developed breast cancer in 2010. Upon her diagnosis, Traci arranged for a sample of her cancerous breast tissue to be donated for research purposes. Allison Melangton, the CEO of the Super Bowl 2012, is one of Traci's dearest friends and proposed the idea of raising awareness of the only tissue bank of healthy breast tissue in the world–thus, the concept of Indy's Super Cure was born.

The goal is to raise $1,000,000 for research and to have 1,000 women donate tissue samples at two collection events before the Super Bowl on January 28 and 29, 2012. There is a huge need of samples from women of color, and there is a special "call out" to have a significant number of Hispanic women donate healthy breast tissue. These samples will be used by researchers to help understand how/why breast cancer manifests differently in women of different races/ethnic groups and will help advance both treatment and a potential cure for breast cancer.

Women's Fund Executive Director, Jennifer Pope Baker, found being a donor to the tissue bank to be an amazing and empowering experience. Read about Jennifer's experience.

To sign up as an interested donor, go to www.komentissuebank.iu.edu.

Revised: October 13, 2011

Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs
Bryan Hall 115, Bloomington, IN 47405-7000, USA
(812) 856-5700

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