Feinstone Center Named Breast Cancer Center of Excellence
For release: Apr. 16, 2003
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

The University of Memphis W. Harry Feinstone Center for Genomic Research has been designated a Breast Cancer Center of Excellence as part of a major award from the U.S. Department of Defense. It is one of fewer than 10 such centers in the United States.

The award, which will run through May 2007, is part of a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program totaling $5.6 million. The U of M will receive $900,000 to study breast cancer prevention and the role estrogen plays in causing cancer.

The U of M will provide genome analyses for the entire Breast Cancer Center of Excellence network, which is headed by Dr. Ercole Cavalieri of the University of Nebraska Medical Center Epply Institute for Research in Cancer. Other participating institutions include the University of Virginia Medical Center, the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and the Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research in Houston.

The U of M center will work to determine the importance of estrogen metabolites that damage DNA, and develop strategies for preventing breast cancer by blocking the formation of estrogen metabolites.

"I'm very excited about this research," said Dr. Thomas Sutter, professor of microbiology, holder of the Feinstone Chair of Functional Genomics, and director of the Feinstone Center, "because it will have an important impact on women's health. We will be able to prevent breast cancer without blocking the beneficial effects of estrogen."

For more information, contact Sutter at 901-678-8391.

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