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Our Mission
To help find a cure for breast cancer by funding promising breast cancer research in Alabama and to raise community awareness and funding for that research.
ABOUT
OUR STORY
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama
In December of 1995, the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB introduced two people who had a shared experience with breast cancer. Dolly O’Neal, an 18-month breast cancer survivor, was one of those people. The other was Bruce Sokol, whose wife D.D. was undergoing breast cancer treatment at the time. Both shared a fervent desire to do something to fight this disease.
The following year, they founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama.
Today, we continue to uphold their work as we partner with Alabamians across the state to fundraise for research. Through individual donations, corporate partnerships, and special events, we have contributed over $17 million to local, lifesaving research since our founding.
As we continue the fight against breast cancer and bring hope to everyone affected by breast cancer, we always operate with our mission in mind.
IMPACT NUMBERS
OUR RESEARCH
What Are Our Goals?
OUR LEADERSHIP
We are passionate about raising funds and awareness to Fuel Advances in breast cancer treatment.
Staff
Beth Davis
President & CEO
[email protected]
Grace Griffin
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
[email protected]
Maranda LaRussa
Events and Development Coordinator
[email protected]
Sonja Jordan
Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
2026 Board of Directors
Gloria Buie
Chair
Camper O’Neal
Vice Chair
Steven Elseroad
Treasurer
Denise Bryant
Secretary
Kathy Baggio
Hope B. Bosworth
Meredith Carpenter
Jill N. Carter
Diane Dudney
Sandra C. Fields
Susan Finley
Dr. Anjanetta Foster
Nancy C. Goedecke
Brian Grainger
Rosalind B. Griffin
Sri Karra
Kate Damrich Lloyd
William Lynch
Mintrel D. Martin
Carol Myers
Kathy Paiml
Sheryl Perlstein
Emily White
2026 Advisory Committee
Celya Caston
Kate Darden
James L. Dye
Shane Hill
Laura Hinton
Gary Johnson
Kate Kiefer
Melinda Mathews
Ginger Milam
Carol Sue Mitchell
Dianne Mooney
Mauricio Papapietro
Wendy Paschal
Phil Passafiume
Ryan Ramage
Dr. Caroline Reich
Greg Schumann
George Shaw
Renee Steed
George Thompson
Jean C. Thompson
Mary Welden
Medical Advisory Council
Deepa Bedi, M.D., Ph.D.
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL)
Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
Rebecca J. Boohaker, Ph.D.
Southern Research (Birmingham, AL)
Associate Fellow, Oncology
Karim Budhwani, PhD
CerFlux (Birmingham, AL)
CEO-Scientist
Sara Cooper, Ph.D.
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology (Huntsville, AL)
Faculty Investigator
Manoj K. Mishra, Ph.D.
Alabama State University (Montgomery, AL)
Professor and Director, Cancer Biology Research and Training Program
Omar Moukha-Chafiq, Ph.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL)
Manager Research Scientist, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Shreyas S. Rao, Ph.D.
University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL)
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Bin Ren, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (Birmingham, AL)
William D. Jordan, Jr. M.D., Endowed Professor in Vascular Sciences in the Department of Surgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Heersink School of Medicine.
Gabrielle Rocque, M.D., MSPH
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) (Birmingham, AL)
Associate Professor of Medicine in the Divisions of Hematology & Oncology and Gerontology, Geriatrics, & Palliative Care
Chandrani Sarkar, Ph.D.
Mitchell Cancer Institute, University of South Alabama (Mobile, AL)
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology/ Mitchell Cancer Institute
Seema Singh, Ph.D.
University of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson, MS)
Professor, Cell and Molecular Biology
Bruce F. Smith V.M.D., Ph.D.
Auburn University (Auburn, AL)
Director, Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer
Professor of Pathobiology
2026 Junior Board
Megan Carter
President
Erica Mitchell
Vice President
Micah Myricks
Secretary
Amy Stevens
Emeritus Board Member
Marie Ehrhardt
Rebecca Johnson
Chelsea Morton
Conner Nason
Baret O’Farrell
Madeline Patterson
Kayla Perlstein
Charity Robertson
Daniel Seehase
Lauren Tovar
Nick Welden
