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UMSOM Honors Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Our Research Continues Toward Combating this Disease

October 29, 2018 | Joanne Morrison

Angela Brodie, PhD

One in Eight Women Will Develop Invasive Breast Cancer, Research is More Critical than Ever.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) continue in their work to help combat this disease that impacts more than 315,000 women in the U.S. each year.

One in eight women in the U.S. will develop invasive breast cancer, making continued research in this area more critical than ever.

UMSOM experts recently discovered the mechanism that enables breast cancer to become more invasive. One of the most common forms of the disease is ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early stage, non-invasive breast cancer. If untreated, these tumors become invasive, and are more difficult to treat.

As our work continues, it is important to note that UMSOM has a legacy of breast cancer treatment discoveries and options for patients that have impacted the lives of millions of women globally. Breast cancer researcher and Professor of Pharmacology, the late Angela Brodie, PhD, was a trailblazer in her quest to develop a new class of drugs to treat breast cancer. Dr. Brodie was an internationally recognized scientist at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center before her death in 2017.

In recognition of Dr. Brodie’s achievements and to ensure future discoveries in breast cancer research, UMSOM has established the Angela and Harry Brodie Distinguished Professorship in Translational Cancer Research. Learn more about current UMSOM breast cancer research and how you can help support the next generation of breast cancer researchers.

Support Our Breast Cancer Research

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Commemorating its 211th Anniversary, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 43 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished recipient of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research.  With an operating budget of more than $1 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically-based care for more than 1.2 million patients each year. The School has over 2,500 students, residents, and fellows, and nearly $520 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total workforce of nearly 7,000 individuals. The combined School and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact in excess of $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8th-highest public medical school in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu/

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