Honorees Archive |

2014 Honoree Mary Ann Wasil

Mary Ann Wasil is the founder of The Get in Touch Foundation which provides breast health initiatives that educate gals and guys of all ages how to “get in touch” with their bodies, information, and each other in our crusade against breast cancer.

ArtBra is thrilled, and dare I say “touched” to honor Mary Ann for her tireless work and her extraordinary example of purposeful survival.

2013 Honoree Geneticist Ellen Matloff

ArtBra New Haven is delighted to announce Ellen Matloff, research scientist in genetics and Director of the Cancer Genetic Counseling Program at Yale Cancer Center, as the 2013 ArtBra Honoree.

Ellen’s area of special interest is BRCA I and BRCA II mutations, which vastly increase the probability of a carrier developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. For the past 18 years, she has been dedicated to patient and provider issues in cancer genetic counseling, and the impact of genetic patents on patients and clinical practice.

Ellen is one of the lead plaintiffs in Association of Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, the landmark case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging the validity of patenting naturally-occurring substances from the human body. Myriad Genetics has patented the BRCA I and II genes, and holds the monopoly on testing. This has frozen research, and makes necessary testing unaffordable for many patients, leaving them to make huge decisions about their treatment without vital information. Ellen has worked tirelessly for the interests of breast cancer patients and their families, and ArtBra New Haven is deeply grateful.

ArtBra New Haven honoree Nancy M. Cappello, Ph.D.

We are delighted to have for our 2012 honoree Nancy M. Cappello, Ph.D., survivor, Conn. resident, advocate, leader in the fight to require sonograms for women with dense breast tissue, and founder of Are You Dense?

Nancy is currently working with last year’s honoree, our own Rep. Rosa DeLauro, to make this Connecticut mandate the national protocol.

The Wall Street Journal has published an important, eye-opening article about breast density featuring our honoree, Nancy Cappello. It’s a must read. (11 August 2012)

Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro

Congress woman Rosa DeLauro was our first honoree for her groundbreaking work on the “No Drive-Through Mastectomies” legislation, which has helped so many post-operative patients.

She will speak about the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, which would prevent hospitals from discharging breast cancer patients soon after mastectomy surgery, and the Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act, which would give women more information about their breast density, which can be a tip-off to breast cancer risk.