Group 3A: HER2+ Breast Cancer; Biomarkers
Wednesday, June 14 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Eastern Time (US/New York)
Mentor: Yvonne McLean Florence
Yvonne is a breast cancer survivor, independent patient advocate, and the former President/Founder of Sisters R Us Circle of Survivors. She completed the Project LEAD program in 2018. The recent focus of her advocacy is on clinical trials, community driven research, DEI, and quality of care, life, and survivorship for cancer patients. She represents Delaware County in the 67 Women, 67 Counties: Facing Breast Cancer in Pennsylvania traveling photo exhibit, and currently serves as a peer reviewer for the NIH/NCI SPORE Programs and patient reviewer for the PCORI Merit Awards program. She also serves on the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) – Ellen Stovall Award Selection Committee. Yvonne continues to be public about her participation in a clinical trial to address issues involving barriers to access, education, and to increase minorities participation.
Scientist: Sailajah Gukathasan, Ph.D.
Sailajah Gukathasan is currently working in chemical proteomics at Weerapana Lab, Chemistry Department at Boston College, under Prof. Eranthie Weerapana as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow after successfully completing her Doctoral degree. Her doctoral work mainly focused on the unique niche of developing gold-based reagents for specific protein modulation under the guidance of Prof. Samuel Awuah at the University of Kentucky. In addition to that, she worked with developing gold(III) scaffolds for enhanced anticancer activity. She is originally from the idyllic city of Jaffna in Sri Lanka and graduated Honors with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Zoology. She left her position as a government official in Sri Lanka to realize her true passion for contributing to society through science, better achieved by devoting her time to research and completing graduate school. Taking her first step towards her goal, she moved to the US in 2015 for a Master’s degree from Tennessee Technological University.
Twitter: @gukansailu
