Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama (BCRFA) has presented two awards for two-year collaborative breast cancer research projects in Alabama. One award went to David Schneider, MD of UAB and Corinne E. Augelli-Szafran, PhD of Southern Research.

The second award will fund Gabrielle Roque, MD of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, Casey Daniel, MD of USA Mitchell Cancer Institute, Alan Balch, MD of the Patient Advocate Foundation, and Eric Ford, PhD of the UAB Department of Public Health. The selected projects will each receive $50,000 annually for two consecutive years, totaling $100,000 each over the two-year period.

Schneider and Augelli-Szafran's project, "Developing compounds to inhibit ribosome synthesis in triple negative breast cancer cells: A pathway toward novel chemotherapeutics," will focus on advancing a new method for therapeutic control of breast cancer, creating derivatives of compounds with increased potency and solubility, and defining how these eliminate breast cancer growth.

Roque, Daniel, Balch and Ford's project, "Quantifying breast cancer patient preferences and their association with financial toxicity during treatment decision-making," will create opportunities for patients to participate in decision-making, aid clinicians in understanding patient perspective during treatment decision-making, and ultimately achieve patient-centered, higher value healthcare for women living with breast cancer.