Leigh Pate Memorial
Lectureship Grant
LEIGH PATE
Dynami Foundation continues to mourn the loss of patient advocate and friend Leigh Pate, who passed away on June 25,2023 at the age of 55. Leigh was a tireless champion for research into this form of the disease in the years after she was diagnosed in 2013. Leigh was the reason and inspiration that founder Flora Migyanka started her own advocacy.
After her diagnosis, Leigh became committed to achieving better outcomes for future generations diagnosed with ILC. After learning that ILC needed more research at the first BCRF-supported International Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer Symposium in Pittsburgh in 2016, she spearheaded a new patient advocacy group: the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance (LBCA) launched in 2017.
In addition to her years of advocacy, Leigh worked as a public affairs consultant on national, state, and local issues and campaigns, and she was known for her writing and photography. An avid outdoorswoman and world traveler, she visited all seven continents.
Quoted from our friends at the LBCA and Leigh's last words: Leigh was relentless in her advocacy for lobular breast cancer despite her diagnosis and rough treatments up until the end. In her last efforts she helped people with lobular breast cancer in Europe gather and form advocacy supports and organizations in their own countries while pledging cross-global collaboration. In some of her last words to the lobular breast cancer community in fervent support of continuing ILC advocacy and collaboration Leigh advised,
“Lobular breast cancer is a little breast cancer in a big breast cancer world. It is only by working together and working collaboratively that we can continue to make meaningful progress in the next decade so patients will finally benefit from personalized therapies that truly meet the challenges of this disease.”
Leigh leaves behind not only loving family and friends, but an outstanding impact on research that will reverberate for years through this new effort.
Lectureship Grant
2024
The 2024 Leigh Pate Memorial Lectureship Grants have been awarded to Patrick Derksen, PhD, Professor of Experimental & Preclinical Oncology, University Medical Center Utrecht, and Tari King, M.D,
The Dynami Foundation is proudly supporting Patrick Derksen, PhD who will be speaking at the 2024 International Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer (ILC) Symposium 2024 in Leuven, Belgium on September 24, 2024.
Patrick Derksen (1970) obtained his PhD at the department of Pathology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Following his graduation in 2003, he moved to the Netherlands Cancer Institute to study the consequences inactivation of cell-cell adhesion in breast cancer development and progression. Here he developed two mouse models for human invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), by conditional and mammary-specific knockout of E-cadherin and p53. In 2005 he was awarded an independent researcher grant from the Dutch organization for scientific research (NWO-VENI) in 2005. In 2007, he joined the Medical Oncology department as an independent researcher and head of the UMCU Mouse Cancer Clinic. He received a NWO-VIDI award in 2008. In 2010 his position was tenured as an Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology. His group is aiming at combining expertise on adhesion molecules, cell signaling and clinically relevant mouse models to study the downstream effectors of the adherens junction complex that propel breast cancer development and progression. Research in the Derksen laboratory is currently sponsored by grants from NWO, KWF, H2020, STW and Breast Cancer Now.
The Dynami Foundation is also proudly supporting Tari King, M.D. presenting “Lobular Carcinoma: Current Concepts and Controversies” on November 15, 2024 at University of Michigen Health Rogel Cancer Center.
Dr. Tari A. King is the Anne E. Dyson Professor of Surgery in the Field of Women’s Cancers at Harvard Medical School, the chief of the Division of Breast Surgery and the vice chair of multidisciplinary oncology in the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and the chief of breast surgery at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center. She is also the director of the Breast Cancer Personalized Risk Assessment, Education and Prevention (B-PREP) Program at BWH and the co-director of the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship program.
2023
Dynami Foundation received a very generous gift upon her passing. With this generous gift, and to continue her legacy, Dynami Foundation established the Leigh Pate Memorial Lectureship. The first of its kind, the inaugural lectureship series launched at the 2023 International Symposium on Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer in Pittsburgh, and featured the first keynote lecture from world renowned Stuart Schnitt, MD from Dana-Farber Center Institute of Boston, MA.
The purpose of this lectureship is to catalyze innovation and to support experts to use this opportunity to share research discoveries focused on lobular breast cancer research. Leigh was a beacon of hope and inspiration to all. The goal of the lectureship is to carry on Leigh's legacy and to leave an enduring positive impact on the world.
Leigh used her experience with cancer to advocate for research, awareness, and patient support. Her journey was marked not only by courage but also by a profound belief in the power of knowledge. She understood that through research and education the path towards a future free from the shadow of cancer could be illuminated. In her memory, we have established a research lectureship—a platform where cancer experts from various fields converge to share insights, innovations, and breakthroughs focused on transformative progress.
This lectureship aims to carry forward Leigh's legacy by fostering collaboration, sparking curiosity, and driving progress. Research is the beacon of hope that guides us towards a world where cancer is treated and cured. It is through research that we understand the complexities of this disease, identify novel treatment options, and develop strategies for prevention. Research is the cornerstone upon which a cancer free future is built. Through this lectureship, we aspire to honor Leigh's memory by ensuring that her legacy is one of progress through education and research that we will help change the course of history.
For inquiries, please email info@uncorkforacure.org.