September 2007

Last month, I had the pleasure to get out of the office and hit the road to Montour County.  Dr. Marius Sudol, one of this year’s Income Tax Check-Off grant recipients, kindly invited me to tour his lab and the new research facility at Geisinger Medical Center.  I invited a PBCC board member and our intern to come along with me.

All I can say is WOW.  What a pleasure to meet one of the researchers on the front lines in the quest for a breast cancer cure.  As we sat in Dr. Sudol’s office, he very deliberately explained his research to us, and his interest and experience in cancer research dating back to the 70s.  And while I couldn’t begin to understand every word out of his mouth, I can tell you that he absolutely lights up when he talks about his research and the advances that have been made.  He is a true champion for the cause and for breast cancer patients everywhere.

If you have ever donated your state income tax return to breast and cervical cancer research, you have helped top investigators like Marius Sudol get one step closer to a cure.  We are very close.  Exciting things are happening – and not just in the major metropolitan areas of this state.  How exciting would it be not only to hear the words “they’ve found a cure for breast cancer”, but to know that the “they” in that sentence is a research team from Pennsylvania?  It could happen!  And it will happen because of research dollars that are raised through simple and effective programs like the PBCC’s Income Tax Check-Off. 

To Dr. Sudol, who is one of many of the heroes working behind the scenes to get us closer to a cure, I say thank you.  And to everyone who donates to the breast and cervical cancer research fund every tax season, I say thank you.  Every penny does count.  I saw it first-hand last month.

Heather Hibshman
Executive Director