Setting the federal research agenda on breast cancer and the environment

Cheers to our president and CEO, Jeanne Rizzo, R.N., who has been named to a brand-new advisory committee that will create a federal research agenda on breast cancer and the environment.

Jeanne will sit alongside 18 others, including advocates, scientists, health professionals and federal representatives from the EPA, National Institutes of Health, CDC, National Cancer Institute, Department of Defense and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

This committee (officially known as the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee, or IBCERCC) will recommend improvements and expansions of federal breast cancer research programs.

What's really exciting about this advisory committee is the opportunity to develop  research plans that cross the various federal agencies charged with researching and protecting public health. Only together can these agencies draw a complete picture of the environmental exposures - and risks - Americans face out in the real world.

"The broad range of expertise and insight of these individuals will ensure the federal research portfolio continues to advance our understanding of the critical links between our environment, our genes, and our health," said Linda Birnbaum, director of NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), who will help facilitate the committee.

We're looking forward to seeing their plans for collaborative, innovative research that will help us protect people and reduce the breast cancer risk of generations of women to come.