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(Philadelphia, PA) - The Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC) joins forces with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and local medical and community leaders at The Wistar Institute, 3601 Spruce St., in the Grossman Auditorium on January 20 at 11:00 AM to kick off the PBCC's Income Tax Check-Off for breast cancer research.
Pat Halpin-Murphy, president & founder of the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, along with Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Calvin Johnson, MD, will present four research grants to PA-based cancer researchers. These grants are funded through Pennsylvania's annual Income Tax Check-Off for Breast and Cervical Cancer.
The grant recipients are: Ellen Heber-Katz, Ph.D., The Wistar Institute; Mary K. Howett, Ph.D., Drexel University; Ira Bergman, M.D., Ph.D., Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh; and Xiao Hui Wang, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh.
The event also includes a welcome from Russel E. Kaufman, M.D., president and chief executive officer of The Wistar Institute and a tour of Dr. Ellen Heber-Katz’s research facility at The Wistar Institute immediately following the press event.
Since the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition’s Income Tax Check-Off was signed into law in 1997, this highly successful and unique cancer research initiative has raised over $1.4 million for Pennsylvania-based cancer researchers. Thousands of PA taxpayers contribute an average of $8.00 from their refunds and recognize the PBCC’s Income Tax Check Off as the most popular refund donation option. Pennsylvanians are reminded to check line 35 on the PA 40 tax form to donate all or part of their state tax refund to breast and cervical cancer research.
PBCC President and Founder, Pat Halpin-Murphy said, “When we began the Income Tax Check-Off we knew it would provide vital, life-saving research. The incredible success of this simple and effective way to raise research dollars renews our commitment to find a cure for breast cancer now… so our daughters won’t have to.©”
Ms. Halpin-Murphy chairs the PA Cancer Control, Prevention and Research Advisory Board’s Income Tax Check-Off Committee, which recommends how the refund donations should be distributed.
The PBCC, founded in 1993, is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending the breast cancer epidemic through research, education, outreach and advocacy. The PBCC insured the passage of two crucial pieces of Commonwealth legislation: The Breast and Cervical Cancer Research Act, which allows taxpayers to donate all or part of their state income tax refunds to breast and cervical cancer research; and The Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery Act, which mandates insurance coverage for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction and prohibits out-patient mastectomies.
For more information about the PBCC visit our website at www.pabreastcancer.org or call 717/738-9567 or toll free 1-800-377-8828.
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