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 nearly $14 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?
O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center
This funding we provide to our partners allows researchers to successfully compete and receive sought-after and sustaining grant dollars, recruit and retain world-class breast cancer researchers, and seize every opportunity for groundbreaking discovery.
The O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB is one of the leading national academic medical centers that make up the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium, which is 100% philanthropy-funded. The effective stewardship of our donations to this organization & their partners creates a multiplier effect, using the BCRFA donations as “seed money” to attract grant funding – turning every one dollar donated into 16 dollars!
More than 90% of every donation we receive supports our mission of funding research and raising awareness. For further information on how the BCRFA stewards the resources received from our supporters, please review copies of our latest Financial Audit and Form 990.
OUR LEADERSHIP
We are passionate about raising funds and awareness to find solutions for breast cancer treatment.
Staff
Beth Davis
President & CEO
[email protected]
Wright Wiggins Rouse
Marketing & Communications Director
[email protected]
Brandy Key
Events Coordinator
[email protected]
Sonja Jordan
Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
2023 Board of Directors
Brian Grainger
Chair / Treasurer
Camper O’Neal
Vice Chair
Celya L. Caston
Secretary
Hope B. Bosworth
Denise Bryant
Gloria Buie
Meredith Woods Carpenter
Jill N. Carter
Fran Chaiprakob
Vivian Weaver Davis
James L. Dye
Laura Hinton
Gary Johnson
Sri Karra
Kate Kiefer
Ginger Milam
Carol Sue Mitchell
Dianne Mooney
Carol Myers
Wendy Paschal
Greg Schumann
George Shaw
Renee Steed
George C. Thompson
2023 Advisory Committee
Charles Baker
Anne-Michelle Barnett
Sandra Little Brown
Kate Darden
Susie Denson
Diane Dudney
Cherri Ellis
Cathy Friedman
Rosalind Griffin
Shane Hill
Melinda Mathews
Cathleen Moore
Carol Myers
Mauricio Papapietro
Philip Passafiume
Betsy Printz
Ryan Ramage
Dr. Caroline Reich
Jean C. Thompson
Marion Walker
Mary Welden
Kay Zarzour
Medical Advisory Council
Deepa Bedi, M.D., Ph.D.
Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL)
Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
Joel L. Berry, Ph.D.
Astound Research, Inc. (Birmingham, AL)
Chief Scientific Officer
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
Andres Forero-Torres, M.D.
Seagen (Bothell, WA)
Global Development Lead, Early-Stage Clinical Development
Inaugural holder of the O’Neal-Sokol BCRFA Endowed Chair at UAB
Manoj K. Mishra, Ph.D.
Alabama State University (Montgomery, AL)
Professor and Director, Cancer Biology Research and Training Program
Omar Moukha-Chafiq, Ph.D.
Southern Research (Birmingham, AL)
Principal Scientist
Shreyas S. Rao, Ph.D.
University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL)
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
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
Seema Singh, Ph.D.
Mitchell Cancer Institute, University of South Alabama (Mobile, AL)
Professor of Pathology; Professor of Oncologic Sciences; Head, Inflammation and Immunobiology Laboratory; Senior Member, Cancer Biology Program
Bruce F. Smith V.M.D., Ph.D.
Auburn University (Auburn, AL)
Director, Auburn University Research Initiative in Cancer
Professor of Pathobiology
2023 Junior board
William Lynch
President
Megan Carter
Morgan Carter
Marie Ehrhardt
Rebecca Johnson
Carolyne Kontomitras
Laura LaFonte
Erica Mitchell
Megan Patterson
Ellie Priester
Hannah Sanford
Daniel Seehase
Baret Steed
Amy Stevens
Co-Founders
Bruce H. Sokol and Dolly A. O’Neal
YOUR SUPPORT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
