As I've written before, I sometimes have the privelege of working with Professor Kathleen Arcaro at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, on her groundbreaking breast cancer/breastmilk research.
Kathleen analyses breastmilk to study DNA changes in breast cells, which are naturally present in breastmilk, and their relationship to breast cancer. It's very gratifying work because a better understanding of these patterns may one day lead to new early detection, prevention and treatment strategies for breast cancer. Here's a sampling of some of the recent press coverage about this research.
For a number of years I've worked with her to find mothers to participate in her studies, and I'm very excited to be posting about a new study, funded by the Avon Foundation for Women. We hope that you can help us find moms willing to donate milk for this important research!
Our goal is to recruit African American mothers to donate milk samples. Why African American moms? Because we want to ensure that our findings apply to all women, and to do that we need a diverse sample of mothers participating. Having African American moms well represented in this research is of particular interest because African American women have different patterns of breast cancer than women of other races.
So, the UMass Breastmilk Lab is seeking:
- African American mothers who are nursing
- Living anywhere in the U.S.
- Willing to donate a *fresh* breastmilk sample (shipped via overnight mail at lab expense)
- Willing to fill our a consent form and questionnaire
Participants will receive $25 in thanks - and the knowledge that they are advancing our understanding of breast cancer!
To participate, or for more information, you can Beth, or call Beth or Eva at (413) 545-0813. More information is also available at the UMass Breastmilk Lab website. You can also like us on Facebook!
We need help spreading the word about this study. Contact me if you'd like me to write a guest post, and link, FB, and Tweet to your heart's content!
And if you're African American (nursing or not), we have another request! As part of this project we're trying to increase the number of African American women who are part of the Love/Avon Army of Women. We hope you'll sign up for the Love/Avon Army of Women. Please select "Breast milk study" when asked how you heard about the Army of Women.
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