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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 22, 2004

SCHUMER SECURES $1 MILLION FOR NEW CENTER FOR WOMEN’S CANCER GENETICS AT THE COLD SPRING HARBOR LABS

Funding included in the FY05 Omnibus Appropriations bill

The funding will be used for a new center for women’s cancer research

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that Congress will pass the FY2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill which included $1 million for a new Center for Women’s Cancer Genetics at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The funding was included in the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations portion of the bill. The bill now heads to the President for his signature.

“The Cold Spring Harbor is a nationally recognized center for this kind of research and this new Center will focus on winning the fight against ovarian and breast cancer,” Schumer said. “The scientists at Cold Spring continue to amaze us and I’m sure that this funding will lead to new breakthroughs that will make all the difference for millions of women across the country as they battle this horrible disease.”

At the Center, the funding will be used to propel the testing of ovarian and breast tissue samples, and cell lines, to provide a catalogue of the common and significant mutations in these cancers. After compiling and identifying common regions that are mutated, the researchers will identify within these regions candidate tumor suppressor and oncogenes. These candidate cancer genes will then be examined for their roles in the development of breast and ovarian cancer and for their potential as targeted drug therapies.

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