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STUDENTS & SCIENTISTS UNITED FOR BREAST CANCER PREVENTION
RESEARCH
Breast Cancer and Parabens?
By Heidi Park for Wellesley College Blog
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Earlier this month, researchers at the Genesis Breast Cancer Prevention Center at the University Hospital of South Manchester, England, released the results of a three-year study that measured the concentrations of five parabens at four different locations across the human breast using human breast tissue collected from 40 women undergoing mastectomies for primary breast cancer (J App Toxicol.Jan. 12, 2012). This most recent study found one or more paraben esters in 158/160 (99 percent) of the tissue samples, and in 96/160 (60 percent) all five esters were present.
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| John Yang of Great Neck South High School and Kayla Neville of Commack High School are Honored |
John Yang of Great Neck South High School and Kayla Neville of Commack High School are honored in this video by Senators Martins and Flanagan in the New York State Senate on March 5, 2012 for the work they conducted at Dr. Balaji Sitharaman's Laboratory through our "Students and Scientists United for Breast Cancer Prevention Research Program"
Click here for video |
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| Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition Congratulates John Yang, participant in GNBCC's Students & Scientists program: Intel Semi-Finalist 2012! |
Jeong Yun (John) Yang of Great Neck South High School was sponsored by GNBCC at Stony Brook University through GNBCC's Students & Scientists program. John began his internship in July 2011 and will continue in the GNBCC program through Summer 2012 working on the the toxicity of nanoparticles and their effect on breast cancer. John was honored by the GNBCC board for the research which won him the Intel recognition.
(left to right): GNBCC Board: Colette Thaw, Mindy Rosenfeld, Pamela Fogel, John Yang, Mrs. Yang, Laura Weinberg, Lisa Levine, Maria Rudman, Mindy Gordon, Fern Rogers
(left to right): Mrs. Yang, John Yang, Laura Weinberg, president of GNBCC
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| LI students honored for cancer research |
Newsday Features Students and Scientists United for Breast Cancer Prevention Research Program, Jan. 5, 2012
Photo credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas | Student scientists John Yang, 18, and Kayla Neville, 16, pose with the poster they used to present their findings about the toxicity levels of nanoparticles. (Jan. 5, 2012)
....FULL
STORY
www.newsday.com |
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Students present their work at Awards Ceremony given by Assembly Member Michelle Schimel's office at the Merchant Marine Academy in Great Neck.
Schimel's Legislative Analyst, Elizabeth Cole, distributes awards to the students. |
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| Awards and Honors! |
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| Time Out at the Cincinnati Aquarium |
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Poster Presentation of Work Performed at 2011 Summer Research Facilities |
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2011 GNBCC & HBCAC Students at Breast Cancer Environmental Research Program Conference in Cincinnati--November 16th-18th
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Vita Jaspan of Great Neck South High School at the Soto/Sonnenschein Laboratory--July 2011
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Congratulations to the GNBCC and HBCAC Student Interns for Summer 2011
left to right standing: Harrison Ferlauto (Commack H.S.
), Joshua Solomowitz (Huntington H.S.), Catherine Wang (Great Neck North H.S.), Melissa Wing (Northport H.S.), Yonatan David (North Shore Hebrew Academy H.S. of Great Neck), John Yang (Great Neck South High School)
left to right seated: Megan Hansen (Huntington H.S.), Kayla Neville (Commack H.S. ), Vita Jaspan (Great Neck South H.S.)
click here to read essays
Thank you to our participating research scientists in our program:
Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
Ana Soto, MD, Carlos Sonnenschein, MD.
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
Drs. Jose and Irma Russo
Silent Spring Institute, Newton Mass.
Julia Brody, PhD
Stony Brook University, Biomedical Engineering, Long Island
Balaji Sitharaman, PhD
Internships for Summer 2011:
Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
Vita Jaspan, Great Neck South H.S.
Melissa Wing, Northport H.S.
Ana Soto, MD, Carlos Sonnenschein, MD
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
Yonatan David, North Shore Hebrew Academy H.S.
Joshua Solomowitz, Huntington H.S.
Harrison Ferlauto, Commack H.S.
Drs. Jose and Irma Russo
Silent Spring Institute, Newton Mass.
Catherine Wang, Great Neck North H.S.
Megan Hansen, Huntington H.S.
Julia Brody, PhD
Stony Brook University, Biomedical Engineering, Long Island
John Yang, Great Neck South H.S.
Kayla Neville, Commack H.S.
Balaji Sitharaman, PhD
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Congressman Steve Israel with students from the Great Neck and Huntington coalitions' Student/Scientists Scholarship Program
(left to right) Congressman Steve Israel, Eugene Park and Laura Weinberg
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2010 Scholarship Recipients
(left to right) Kim Shen, Pablo Palacios, Chirag Munim, Eugene Park (Great Neck South High School), Ravitha Rasha
Eugene Park and Ravitha Rasha will be interning at the Ana Soto Laboratory at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Pablo Palacios, Kim Shen and Chirag Munim will be interning at the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Massachusetts. Congratulations to all five students!
Eugene Park Essay - 2010 |
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On April 5th, Zoe Schacht-Levine (left) of Great Neck North High School and Aliyah Cohen (right) of Huntington High School were video taped for their 2009 summer scholarship experience at the world-renowned Silent Spring Institute in Massachusetts,sponsored by the Great Neck and Huntington Breast Cancer Coalitions.The two students displayed their poster seen in this photo at a recent national conference. In the video taping both Zoe and Aliyah explain the details of their poster on mammary gland carcinogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals found in personal care products. For more information on the important breast cancer/environmental research being conducted at Silent Spring Institute go to: www.silentspring.org. |
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Alumni Student from GNBCC Students & Scientists Program Organizes Presentation on Endocrine Disruptors at Wellesley College on February 23, 2010
Heidi Park, 2007 alumni student of the GNBCC scholarship program and of Great Neck South High School, now a sophomore at Wellesley College, initiated and helped organize an educational presentation through the Wellesley College Biology Department called: "Our Stolen Future: Endocrine Disruptors, What They Mean for Us and What You can Do".
Maricel Maffini, Ph.D spoke about endocrine disrupters, including Bisphenol A, and their association with several adverse health effects including breast and prostate cancer. Laura Weinberg also presented by identifying several endocrine disrupting chemicals and gave examples of how to avoid them.
Thank you T. Kaye Peterman, Ph.D, Chair of the Biological Sciences Department and the entire Biology Department at Wellesley College for coordinating this presentation. |
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| Left to Right: Laura Weinberg, president of GNBCC, Heidi Park, Alumni Student from GNBCC Student program, now a sophomore at Wellesley College. |
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| Left to Right: Laura Weinberg, president of GNBCC, Heidi Park, sophomore of Wellesley College, Maricel Maffini, Ph.D. of Soto Laboratory at Tufts University School of Medicine |
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| BCERC Conference November 2009 in Sausalito, California
Poster presentation made by students
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Aliyah Cohen and Zoe Schacht-Levine are
testing for water contaminants as part of their 2009
summer research internship at Silent Spring Institute.
(Left to right) Staff Scientist Kathleen Attfield at
the Silent Spring Institute, Aliyah Cohen of Huntington
High School, Zoe Schacht-Levine of Great Neck North
High School.
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| BCERC Alabama conference (11/13-11/14)
with students from Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition
and Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, from the
Students and Scientists Breast Cancer/Environmental Research
Scholarship Program. |
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Karolina Woroniecka from G.N. South High
School and Regina Roofeh from G.N. North High School receive
a certificate of excellence from the Breast Cancer Environmental
Research Centers for their poster presentation on 11/14/08. |
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Regina Roofeh (left) from
Great Neck North High School and Karolina Woroniecka from
Great Neck South High School are the summer 2008 students
who will intern at the Soto/Sonnenschein Laboratory at
Tufts University Medical Center under the GNBCC scholarship
program. |
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The Student/Scientist
Scholarship program is growing. Since 2005, there are
now seven students who have worked at laboratories which
address environmental links to cancer. |
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GNBCC trailblazing students, Leah Goldman and Karen Brachot in 2005 at Breast Cancer Environmental Research Center Conference (BCERC) where they displayed a poster of their internship at the Soto/Sonnenschein Laboratory at Tufts University School of Medicine.
From left: Les Reinlib. Ph.D, program director of Breast Cancer Environmental Research Centers (www.bcerc.org). Gwen Collman, Ph.D chief of the Susceptibility and Population Health Branch in DERT. Leah Goldman of Great Neck North High School, Karen Brachot of Great Neck South High School and Laura Weinberg, president of the Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition. (GNBCC) |
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In
summer 2005, Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition founded and
implemented a High School Scholarship Program which
sent one student from both Great Neck South High School and
one from Great Neck North High School to Dr. Ana Soto’s
Laboratory of Tufts University Medical School in Boston to
study environmental influences and links to breast cancer.
The scholarships have been named in honor of two Great Neck
residents: the Mindy Rosenfeld Scholarship Program for Great
Neck South High School and the Shelley Greenbaum Scholarship
Program for Great Neck North High School.
As well as assisting with breast cancer/environmental research
at the lab, the two Great Neck students, Karen Brachot and
Leah Goldman, had an in depth education in cell biology and
a hands on laboratory experience. Both Karen and Leah described
this scholarship program “as one of the best experiences they
ever had.”
Special thanks to Ana Soto M.D., Maricel Maffini Ph.D, Carlos
Sonnenschein M.D., Laura Vandenberg, Ph.D., Tessa Murray Ph.D
and everyone else at Ana Soto’s Laboratory for helping
us initiate this scholarship program and for the gift of giving
our students, the next generation of scientists, a summer
learning experience that they will never forget.
Also, special thanks to the Great Neck Public School District
for all of their help in getting this program off the ground;
and to our two trailblazing Great Neck students, Karen Brachot
and Leah Goldman, for making this program a success and setting
an example for students around the nation.To view
evaluation of this scholarship program click on pdfs
below:
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LEND A HELPING HAND (LAHH)
 What
is Lend A Helping Hand?
The Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition offers a "Lend
A Helping Hand" program for women and men who have been
newly diagnosed with breast cancer in order to alleviate some
of the stresses and demands associated with post breast cancer
surgery and subsequent treatment.
The usual chores of daily living such as house cleaning,
food preparation, child care and transportation may seem more
difficult after being newly diagnosed, surgery and treatment.
LAHH relieves some of these stresses of everyday life by providing
funding for these services.
How can I qualify for this program?
Our coalition needs to receive in writing from your doctor(s)
information that you have recently been diagnosed with breast
cancer, and will be having (or have just had) surgery, chemotherapy
and / or radiation treatment. We also need to know in writing
from your doctor the expected duration of your treatment.
Services
* House Cleaning
* Home Care
* Transportation to/from Medical Appointments
* Child Care
* Post -Mastectomy Accessory Items (bras and wigs)
* Food shopping and/or food catering to the home
Please note that for all of the above services the participant
of our LAHH chooses the individuals, vendors or companies,
and then provides Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition with
receipts of these services.
BOOK DONATION PROGRAM
 All
of the following books have
been donated by GNBCC to our Great Neck Public Library system
and to all of our Great Neck Public School Libraries. The
books listed for children also have been donated to the Great
Neck Community School.
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SAFE LAWN ~ CLEAN WATER CAMPAIGN
 A
growing body of evidence has shown that several chemicals
which we are exposed to on a daily basis may act as “estrogen
mimickers”. Research indicates that our lifetime exposure
to estrogen may increase our risk of getting breast cancer.
Certain pesticides have been shown to be estrogenic and have
also been categorized by the Environmental Protection Agency
(E.P.A) as probable or possible carcinogens. To err on the
side of caution, seek safer alternatives to pesticides and
speak to your gardener about using toxic-free products and
methods. For a copy of our brochure click
here.
For information on using safer alternatives to pesticides,
visit www.grassrootsinfo.org.
Great Neck Student Participates in Our Safe Lawn
~ Green Water Campaign, ( PDF)
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SEMINARS - We have had experts
lecture in Great Neck from various parts of the country including,
the Dana Farber Cancer Institute of Boston, the Fox Chase
Cancer Center of Philadelphia and local sources such as Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory.
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GNBCC WORKSHOPS, LECTURES – We
offer programs on many breast health issues such as risk reduction,
and how to avoid toxic environmental exposures.
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NEWSLETTER – Our quarterly newsletter
contains the latest information regarding breast cancer treatment,
early detection, risk reduction, and the environmental exposures
which may put us at risk. The newsletter also informs our
readers of national and statewide legislation currently assisting
women with breast cancer, and legislation that addresses risk
reduction. We also inform our membership of local, regional
and statewide resources and events pertaining to breast cancer.
Read about our accomplishments and upcoming events in the
most current newsletter– Fall/Winter 2011- 2012 (PDF)
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NETWORKING – We network with regional
and national breast cancer coalitions, environmental coalitions,
and government health agencies. We also attend regional and
national conferences that address the latest breast health
issues.
 GNBCC
also is a member of the New York State Breast Cancer Network
and has a seat on the Network’s board. For more information
on the New York State Breast Cancer Network, go to: www.nysbcsen.org.
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