Meet the TBCRU Mother’s Day Walk Team

Meet the TBCRU Mother’s Day Walk Team

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Hello, my name is Natasha Knier and I am a TBCRU trainee, currently studying how breast cancer spreads to the brain. As a TBCRU trainee this year, I am excited and eager to document my process in participating in efforts towards the Breast Cancer Society of Canada’s annual Mother’s Day Walk for 2019.

My hope is that you will be able to share the experience of myself and other TBCRU trainees within the Robarts Cellular and Molecular Imaging Group (CMIG) as we fundraise, market, prepare, and ultimately participate in the walk this year.

From my lab, myself, Olivia Sehl (TBCRU Trainee), Veronica Dubois (TBCRU Trainee), and Katie Parkins (TBCRU Alumni) will be participating in efforts towards this year’s Mother’s Day Walk together. So why are we walking? As students working in breast cancer research, we are passionate about supporting fundraising and awareness efforts that highlight the important need for further research in this area, as well as showing support for the community of individuals who have been affected by breast cancer at any point in their lives.

To get us started, I thought I would introduce myself and my lab members, as well as the research that we are doing in breast cancer that is currently funded by the generous studentships from TBCRU.

Natasha KnierAs mentioned, my name is Natasha Knier, and I am an MSc Candidate in the Medical Biophysics program at Western University, supervised by Dr. Paula Foster. My project focuses on studying breast cancer that spreads to the brain using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models by using a special magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to see which cells that spread to the brain die, which form new tumours, and which cells do not form tumours, but remain within the brain. You can read more about my project here. This is my first year participating in fundraising efforts for the Mother’s Day Walk this year, and so I am excited to be part of communicating my experiences with the walk.
Olivia Sehl

Olivia Sehl is an MSc Candidate in Medical Biophysics at Western University, and she is also supervised by Dr. Paula Foster. Olivia studies immune cells, called macrophages, that promote the growth and spread of breast cancer. Her project involves the development a MRI technique to detect and quantify these cells. A major aim is to deplete tumor-associated macrophages to determine whether this impacts the growth and spread of breast tumors. Continue reading here.

Veronica DuboisVeronica Dubois is another TBCRU trainee that is currently an MSc Candidate in Medical Biophysics. She is co-supervised by Dr. John Ronald and Dr. Paula Foster at Western University. Veronica focuses on developing techniques to study a new kind of cancer therapy called chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy. This type of therapy involves collecting immune cells from a patient, attaching a protein that helps them to find and kill cancer cells, then placing these “trained” immune cells back into the patient where they can travel through the body and fight the patient’s cancer more effectively. You can read more here.

Lastly, Katie Parkins is a TBCRU Alumni who has participated in previous Mother’s Day Walks during her time as a TBCRU trainee. Katie is a PhD Candidate in Katie ParkinsMedical Biophysics at Western University, and is co-supervised by Dr. John Ronald and Dr. Paula Foster. Katie’s work focuses on combining iron based cellular MRI techniques with optical imaging to better track the fate of metastatic breast cancer cells in the brain and other sites throughout the body, with the overall goal of better understanding the mechanisms that lead to cancer metastasis and recurrence. You can read more about the research Katie did as a TBCRU trainee here. We are happy to have Katie on our fundraising team as her insights as a past trainee are extremely valuable to our organizational efforts.

We hope that you enjoyed hearing a bit about our plans to walk this year and how we are contributing to the important field of breast cancer research. If you are interested in joining us on our Mother’s Day Walk journey, you can easily register at mothersdaywalk.ca
Looking forward to sharing more about our time leading up to the walk, and we hope you follow along!

Support researchers like these visit mothersdaywalk.ca and consider registering to walk or making a donation.

Author Bio:
Natasha Knier is an MSc Candidate in Medical Biophysics at Western University, and is currently supported by a TBCRU Studentship Award for 2018-2019.

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We’ll raise money for life-saving breast cancer research, together.

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There are many ways to fundraise – whether you want to create a competition or tournament, fundraise with your team, challenge your colleagues, host a pink party, have a bake sale or cook-off, the idea is to raise more for breast cancer research.

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How to Sponsor

Thinking about becoming a corporate partner of Breast Cancer Canada? Amazing. work with all types of organizations. We’ll help you deliver results which are measurable. National or local.

A partnership with Breast Cancer Canada is a win-win. It improves employee engagement, boosts morale, fosters a tighter culture. It raises your organization’s profile and demonstrates your support for breast cancer research. To customers. To employees. To suppliers. Most of all – it makes a positive impact for those affected directly by breast cancer.

We’ll raise money for life-saving breast cancer research, together.

Let’s talk about building your program!

Contact Dawn Hamilton today to get started.
Email: hello@breastcancerprogress.ca
Phone: 1-800-567-8767 

To make an online corporate donation, please click here.

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Leave a legacy. Plan for a future gift.

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or more information, please contact: hello@breastcancerprogress.ca


LEAVE A GIFT IN YOUR WILL

This is often called a bequest. It’s the simplest way to make a legacy gift. A gift in your will has no effect on your current income and your estate receives a charitable donation tax receipt. Here’s a sample of simple bequest wording : “To pay the sum of $_________ OR _______% of the residue of my estate to Breast Cancer Canada.”


DONATING A LIFE INSURANCE POLICY

Life insurance is a way to provide financial security for your family. If the needs of your family are already taken care of, a life insurance policy is a smart way to donate to charity including tax savings for your estate. Speak to your financial advisors for your personalized advice and learn how a gift of life insurance can work for you. Here’s the top-line on ways of leaving gifts of life insurance:


Bequeath your policy to Breast Cancer Canada for the future:

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Transfer ownership of a paid-up policy to Breast Cancer Canada now:

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Transfer ownership of a policy on which premiums are still owing to BCC now:

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DONATE A TFSA, RRSP, RRIF

Register a significant difference in the lives of those affected by breast cancer. Donate the proceeds of a registered account: Tax-free savings account (TFSA); Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP); Registered retirement income fund (RRIF). It’s a smart way to make a major contribution. Without reducing your current assets. Without subjecting the funds to probate fees. While reducing taxes on your estate through a donation receipt.

Making a gift like this is easy. Designate Breast Cancer Canada as the beneficiary of your registered account.  You benefit from the full use of your account(s) during your lifetime. We receive any remaining funds after your passing.

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Gifting securities

Donating securities is becoming more popular, and supports Breast Cancer Canada just like cash donations. Gifts of publicly traded securities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds) are an easy, tax-effective way to make a contribution towards life-saving research that helps with early detection, better treatments, and ultimately  Securities can be of any size and given immediately, or you can bequeath them to Breast Cancer Canada in your will. Just like a cash donation, you’ll get a donation tax credit for your gift of securities.

Today, most securities are held electronically and are easily transferred from your brokerage account to our BCC brokerage account. Your Financial Advisor can make all the arrangements.

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We ensure our volunteers have the best possible experience and apply the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement.

You can help us end breast cancer by:

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Regional Hubs are an integral part of Breast Canada Canada. We connect communities and those committed to our mission to make the goal local. Together, we can save lives through advancing breast cancer research, coast to coast.

Connect to learn more about what is happening in your area: volunteer@breastcancerprogress.ca