The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) announced that it has appointed Marc Hurlbert, PhD, as its new Chief Mission Officer (CMO). Formerly the Executive Director of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, Dr. Hurlbert succeeds Margaret (Peg) Mastrianni, who will retire in January 2016 after serving as BCRF’s Deputy Director and Chief Program Officer for the past 14-plus years. Dr. Hurlbert will oversee the Foundation’s global research grants program and a nearly $50 million annual research-granting budget. BCRF will also serve as the new home of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, where Dr. Hurlbert has served as Chair since it was founded in 2013 and which he will continue to lead at BCRF.
In 2015, BCRF’s annual grants program has committed more than $14.5 million to metastatic breast cancer research. BCRF-funded studies focus on understanding the biology of why and how cancer cells spread, the development of new treatments for advanced disease, clinical trials for new drug or drug combinations, and correlative research to discover biomarkers that can predict which breast cancers are more likely to spread.
In 2013, BCRF established the Evelyn H. Lauder Founder’s Fund, a multiyear international program that is the first large-scale global effort to unravel the biology of metastasis. With $31 million raised to date, it is the largest privately funded project exclusively focused on metastasis in the world.
BCRF’s focus on metastatic breast cancer research makes it the ideal new headquarters for the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance. The Alliance comprises organizations and individuals with the mission of accelerating research and developing new treatments for metastatic breast cancer by encouraging collaboration. In his ongoing role with the Alliance, Dr. Hurlbert will continue to work toward improving the prognosis of women and men living with metastatic breast cancer. ■
