Summer 2025
By Lucy McDonald
Photography by Sam Ogden
For more than 30 years, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) has generously supported the world’s most promising breast cancer research—including longstanding support of groundbreaking work at Dana-Farber. By providing crucial research funding to leaders in the field, BCRF aims to expedite breakthroughs that will change the lives of patients around the world.
“Our goal is singular: rid the world of breast cancer,” said Donna McKay, president and CEO of BCRF. “We are very proud to support cutting-edge research at Dana-Farber that gets us closer to that goal and promises to change the lives of patients and their families.”
Building on their past support of Dana-Farber, BCRF recently made grants totaling more than $4 million to 12 exceptional Institute physician-scientists. Among these, one grant is accelerating the work of Judy Garber, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention and the Susan F. Smith Chair at Dana-Farber, who is investigating the biology underlying BRCA-associated, ER-positive breast cancers. Garber, who has received support from BCRF for nearly 25 years, was also honored with the prestigious Jill Rose Award in 2024—BCRF’s highest scientific honor—in recognition for her landmark contributions to the field.
Another recent BCRF grant is driving important research by Jennifer Ligibel, MD, director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living, focused on exploring the link between exercise and breast cancer. While higher levels of physical activity have been linked to lower risk of developing breast cancer, the biological processes underlying this association are not yet understood. Past research led by Ligibel and her colleague Bruce Spiegelman, PhD, director of the Center for Energy Metabolism and Chronic Disease, revealed that a hormone released during exercise called irisin may slow breast cancer development by activating the immune system. Building on her work with Spiegelman, Ligibel is leveraging. BCRF support to measure the effects of irisin on the immune system in laboratory models of non-cancerous breast tissue and models of early breast cancer development. In parallel, she has launched a clinical trial to test the effects of a 12-week exercise program on circulating irisin and immune markers in breast tissue.
By exploring this connection, Ligibel, Spiegelman, and their teams aim to clarify the mechanisms through which exercise can reduce cancer risk and, ultimately, identify new targets for developing drugs that prevent and treat this disease. Their goal is to develop drugs that hold promise for even the most difficult-to-treat forms of breast cancer, changing the lives of patients everywhere.