Published: November 10, 2009 12:29 pm      

HEALTH: NU professor wins breast cancer research grant

Mary McCourt looked out over a sea of walkers wearing pink.

It was the end of the two-day 39-mile Avon Walk in New York City and she was standing on Pier 87 on the waterfront, about to be introduced as one of the honored guests.

When her mission was announced a cheer rose up among the thousands, some who were breast cancer patients, others in support of someone with breast cancer, and still others who had lost someone to the illness.

“I was so humbled,” McCourt said of the response. “It was a very emotional experience.”

That day in October McCourt, chairman of the chemistry department at Niagara University, was presented by the Avon Foundation with a check for $150,000 which will fund her ground-breaking research to develop a new, noninvasive test for breast cancer.

Scientists don’t often get that emotional, she said, but perhaps that’s because they don’t often get to see the people whose lives their research impacts.

“We started this project with our students six months ago,” she said later during an interview in her campus office. “We have a very unique model for science students. They get into research very early.”

McCourt and her team hope that ultimately urine tests can replace many of the more invasive, costly mammograms. A secondary benefit that the simplicity of a urine exam would encourage more women to test for breast cancer, resulting in earlier detection and more possibility of remission.

The research grant will also bring more attention to the university’s science program.

“It’s a significant grant,” said Nancy McGlen, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “It will fund the kind of research that we do, support our students doing research with the faculty, and it addresses a major health issue which is important to us.”

McCourt’s research partner, Lawrence Mielnicki, said that the grant will also give students and teachers a chance to participate in research that has relevance to the world outside the university.

“As a researcher you don't get many opportunities to make a big impact,” Mielnicki said. “If this succeeds it has potential to be a big thing.”

Urine samples for the research will largely be provided by the Avon Foundation’s Army of Women program comprised of everyday people who are looking to assist in research.

“We hope to recruit 1,000 participants,” McCourt said.

McCourt expects the first phase of research to last about six months, with the expectation of some indication of success or failure coming within about a year. While she hopes to succeed, she is not unduly concerned about failure.

“There’s nothing wrong with failing. When you fail, you learn something,” she said.

Success, of course, would be truly sweet for the researchers and the university.

“To be able to have made that kind of a contribution, that would be a big deal,” McCourt said.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen tomorrow, but soon,” she added.