College of Notre Dame to host recruitment rally for nationwide breast cancer initiative

College of Notre Dame of Maryland is supporting the Love/Avon Army of Women, a nationwide initiative to recruit 1 million volunteers to enroll in research to help uncover the causes of breast cancer. A program of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and funded by a grant from the Avon Foundation, the Army of Women seeks women and men across the U.S., of all ages (over 18) and ethnicities, with or without breast cancer, to be counted as "one in a million" by signing up at armyofwomen.org.

To raise awareness for the campaign, College of Notre Dame is hosting a recruitment rally on Friday, May 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. featuring Dr. Susan Love, founder of the Army of Women, president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and a leader in the breast cancer field for more than 30 years. At the event, attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the Army of Women and to enlist. Notre Dame is working toward an ambitious goal—adding 25,000 more names to the Army of Women—and hopes to bring women and men from the entire region to sign up and be counted.

"The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation has been a leading champion of the cause, and we are honored to join them in the fight," said PJ Mitchell, chair of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, co-chair of the recruitment rally and a breast cancer survivor. "At Notre Dame, it is our mission to change lives. By enlisting with us in the Army of Women, you are potentially changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and their families by preventing breast cancer from ever striking."

"Traditionally, it has been women who have led the fundraising and advocacy efforts to end breast cancer," said Dr. Love. "The Army of Women initiative gives all women and men, over the age of 18, the opportunity to be part of the research itself and help keep our collective focus on moving breast cancer beyond a cure and eradicating it once and for all."

While there have been many advances in breast cancer detection and treatment, researchers still do not understand its causes and need additional volunteers in order to conduct effective studies. After signing up at armyofwomen.org, members will receive regular e-mails (2 to 3 times per month) notifying them of research studies that they can participate in if willing and if they are eligible. They can enroll in the studies online or, if they do not meet the criteria of the particular study, or otherwise choose not to participate, they may forward the information to a friend or family member. Every woman and man 18 and older is invited to enlist in the Army of Women, regardless of their medical history.

Current breast cancer studies where Army of Women volunteers are needed focus on using breast milk to screen for breast cancer,and finding a better way to predict a woman's breast cancer risk among other studies. Participation can involve anything from providing a blood sample to something as simple as filling out an online questionnaire.