The Amelia Project is an annual event held on the campus of IUPUI (Indiana University, Purdue University, Indianapolis.)  Dr. George W. Sledge, Jr., Ballve-Lantero Professor of Medicine at Indiana University serves as the Chair and Moderator of the meeting.  It is our good fortune to have Dr. Sledge serving on the Medical Advisory Board of the IBC Research Foundation.

Presentations during the day ranged from the complex, "Intimate But Complex Relationship Between Estrogen Receptor and AKT: A Genomic Perspective" by Hari Nakshatri, PhD and "BioMEMS and Bionanotechnology for Biology and Medicine" by Rashid Bashir, Ph.D. to more easily understood presentations on metastasis, by Dr. Susan Clare and a contemplative closing piece by Chair, Dr. Sledge.

Of particular interest to those of us from the ibcRF was "Biospecimens and Breast Cancer Research: Program and Challenges" by Rulla Tamimi, ScD, Harvard School of Public Health.  She spoke about the Nurses Health Studies and how they have been able to obtain blood and tissue samples from those who developed breast cancer.  Only limited work has been done with those specimens to date.  For us, it was important to learn more about how and what they collected, since we are involved in biospecimens collection (the IBC Research Foundation BioBank and Clinical Database.)  Over lunch, Gayla and I were able to talk with Ms. Tamimi about her work.  She wanted to know more about our BioBank and how we enroll patients. 

An important part of the Amelia Project meeting is the poster session, following lunch.  Participants are invited to submit an abstract months before the meeting, and a committee determines which abstracts should be developed into posters for presentation at the meeting.  One poster in particular caught our attention.  A research nurse had studied 'chemo-brain' and had developed some hypothesis about the problem.  If she is able to obtain funding, she will continue the research by enrolling patients into a trial to obtain more data to better understand this problem and look at ways to improve cognitive function for breast cancer patients experiencing this problem.  Hopefully, we will hear from this researcher that she has obtained funding and can continue her work on this troubling issue.

Another poster, presented by a graduate student in the Skaar lab, was on the topic of chronic inflammation and the potential role in carcinogenesis.  I have begun working with this student to provide advocate input, as she has been preparing grant requests to fund her pre-doctoral work.  Her work on the role of CYP2D6 in the metabolism of Tamoxifen will provide the foundation for her future work.  This is important research that will ultimately impact the decision of using Tamoxifen for a given patient by predicting the potential response.  More research is needed, but the data is already quite compelling.

The Amelia Project provides the opportunity for a dedicated group of clinicians, researchers, students and advocates to network, learn and share ideas in a relaxed atmosphere.  While at Indiana University we were able to connect with both Dr. George Sledge and Dr. Sunil Badve of our Medical Advisory Board and provide updates on our BioBank project and other ibcRF activities.  Of course, we handed out a number of brochures and made sure those in attendance learned about IBC!

We look forward to participating in the Amelia Project in 2009 and the relationships that continue to develop through this unique meeting.

Ginny Mason