• Three-year, $1.6M funding builds on existing JKTG-funded collaborative work

February 22, 2024 | Highland, MD – The Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy (JKTG Foundation) today announced funding to Laura Heiser, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Biomedical Engineering at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, to develop a prototype multiscale model designed to predict therapeutic responses of tumor ecosystems – a new frontier in breast cancer research.

This work aims to identify effective therapies for women diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive disease that frequently affects young women and is twice as common in Black and Hispanic women. Today, roughly 40 percent of patients do not experience long-term benefits from standard therapy and there is urgent need for effective treatment regimens. The project involves team members from OHSU, Indiana University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“I believe multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary research is the key to real breakthroughs,” said Ted Giovanis, founder and president of the JKTG Foundation. “Laura’s work has always matched that approach and her drive to redefine how breast cancer is understood and treated is exactly what the Foundation is here to do.”

The JKTG Foundation first worked with Heiser in 2017 through a collaborative, multi-institutional project connecting applied mathematics and oncology experts to develop collaborative cancer research projects. Multidisciplinary by nature, Heiser frequently collaborates with diverse teams of scientists and the Foundation has supported various projects of hers over the years.

About the JKTG Foundation
The Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy (JKTG Foundation) aims to change health care for the better by funding cancer research, policy projects, and events that foster public discussion to improve the quality and effectiveness of care patients experience. The Foundation serves as an honest, independent broker of ideas and actions designed to advance both health care and health policy that is patient centric. Visit www.jktgfoundation.org to learn more.