Delaware team receives $660K grant for breast cancer research

Jennifer Sims-Mourtada, Ph.D., director of Translational Breast Cancer Research at ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, has been awarded a $659,538 Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation grant to further her team’s triple-negative breast cancer research.

Dr. Sims-Mourtada and her team investigate the role of cells immediately around a tumor and their impact on triple-negative breast cancer, which is resistant to current therapies and disproportionately affects premenopausal women and African American women.

“The Moseley Foundation’s grant will help our breast cancer research team address a pressing concern for Delaware, which has the highest rate of triple-negative breast cancer in the nation,” said Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., medical director of the cancer center, in a press statement.

ChristianaCare’s Cancer Center & Research Institute serves a diverse pool of patients and uses a range of new and up-and-coming therapies, including virtual reality distraction therapy and CRISPR.

Before receiving the grant, Dr. Sims-Mourtada’s team found that an anti-inflammatory drug that is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis may have the potential slow the growth of cancer stem cells and triple-negative breast cancer tumors. They will now further research the relationship between cancer stem cells and inflammation by comparing pre- and post-chemotherapy breast tissue.