Carol M. Baldwin
Upstate Medical University presented 16 awards at its fall convocation Sept. 16. The President’s Award for Exemplary Support of Biomedical Research was given to Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York. Below is a profile of the charity, as it appears in the convocation program.
By Stephanie DeJoseph
It is estimated that one in eight women will develop breast cancer during her life. It is a disease that will claim the lives of nearly 40,000 women and 500 men this year alone in the U.S. However, millions are surviving breast cancer thanks to early detection and improvements in treatment. Research is the key to making such advancements happen. The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York is committed to finding a cure through research. To date, the Fund has donated more than $2.75 million locally to help understand more about this devastating disease. The support goes directly to investigators conducting breast cancer research at Upstate Medical University; to bring noted scientists to campus; and to support a clinical lecture series organized by faculty practicing at Upstate University Hospital.
The Baldwin Fund awards multiple $50,000 grants each year to investigators conducting breast cancer research here. As of 2015, 31 research grants have been awarded to Upstate researchers, with five new grants slated for 2016. Our researchers investigate the causes, prevention and treatment of breast cancer. This research has been wide ranging, including studies of the genetic, molecular, cellular and environmental factors involved in the development and progression of breast cancer, as well as clinical research studies.
The Baldwin Fund also sponsors two annual endowed lectureships focused on breast cancer developments in treating the disease. Aimed at physicians, the scientific lectures are presented by leading experts in breast cancer and are named in honor of a local breast cancer survivor. The lectures span a wide breadth of basic and clinical research topics, from scientific cause and effect, detection, and new targeted therapies to mastectomies and reconstruction.
Through the tireless efforts of breast cancer survivor Carol Baldwin; her daughter and the Fund’s executive director, Elizabeth Baldwin; granddaughter and the Fund’s associate director, Jacqueline Baldwin-Calveric; other members of the Baldwin family; and an army of volunteers and supporters, the Baldwin Fund hosts a variety of events, to raise both awareness and funds in support of support biomedical research. Asking others to join her crusade, Carol Baldwin is positive that through the work of the Fund, “together, we will find a cure!”
