Lee Labs Researcher Publishes New Study, Research Funded By Denim Day®
Cambridge, Mass. (May 4, 2009) – Lee National Denim Day® and the Women’s Cancer Programs of EIF are proud to announce the work of a Lee Translational Labs researcher, Dr. Joan S. Brugge, has been published in a recent study identifying new behaviors of the Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) in breast cancer. The research conducted for the study was founded in part by the money raised from Lee National Denim Day.
Dr. Brugge is one of six scientists participating in the Lee Jeans Translational Laboratories collaboration nationwide. She is currently the Chair of the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Brugge has received several awards recognizing her scientific accomplishments including the NIH Merit Award, an American Cancer Society Research Professorship and the Senior Career Recognition Award from the American Society of Cell Biology.
Dr. Brugge’s lab focuses primarily on identifying and blocking 12 genes that could play key roles in breast cancer tumor growth.
The Lee Translational Laboratories came together two years ago with the leadership of research pioneer Dr. Dennis Slamon of the UCLA School of Medicine. Each of the labs in the program receives significant funding from Lee National Denim Day annually to continue their work and the researchers also meet annually to compare findings. By facilitating collaboration between researchers focused in different areas of breast cancer research, the program hopes to fast-track treatment research and find less toxic, more effective therapies for breast cancer patients.
In addition to Brugge’s lab at Harvard, other participating researchers and laboratories in the program are:
- Dr. Dennis Slamon, UCLA School of Medicine
- Dr. Funmi I. Olopade, F.A.C.P., University of Chicago
- Dr. C. Kent Osborne, Baylor College of Medicine
- Dr. Carlos L. Arteaga, Vanderbilt University
- Dr. Nancy E. Davidson, Johns Hopkins University
Since its inception in 1996, Lee National Denim Day has raised more than $75 million, and by partnering with esteemed research institutes, is able to keep track of the specific research initiatives being funded. Lee Labs works to find more effective, less toxic treatments for breast cancer and increase patient access to some of the most significant clinical trials in the nation.