JENDA: A JOURNAL OF CULTURE AND AFRICAN WOMEN STUDIES ISSN: 1530-5686 Issue 7 (2005)

September 20, 2005, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundatioon named 25 new MacArthur Fellows for 2005. Each received a phone call from the Foundation informing them that they will be given $500,000 in "no strings attached" support over the next five years.

Olufunmilayo Olopade, Clinician / Researcher, Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, Illinois, was one of this years recipients. She is the director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she has been on the faculty since 1991.

MacArthur Fellows are selected for their creativity, originality, and potential. By providing resources without stipulations or reporting requirements, the MacArthur Foundation offers the opportunity for Fellows to accelerate their current activities or take their work in new directions. The unusual level of independence afforded to the Fellows underscores the spirit of freedom intrinsic to creative endeavors. "The call can be life-changing, coming as it does out of the blue and offering highly creative women and men the gift of time and the unfettered opportunity to explore, create, and contribute," said Jonathan F. Fanton, president of the MacArthur Foundation.

Olufunmilayo Olopade is an oncologist who translates her basic research on individual and population cancer susceptibility into an effective clinical practice for treating breast cancer among African and African-American women. Trained in clinical oncology and cancer genetics, her early research led to the identification of a tumor suppressor locus on the short arm of the 9th chromosome. Her more recent work focuses more specifically on the molecular genetics of breast cancer in women of African heritage. Tumors of this population demonstrate distinct biological characteristics, including a high level of aggressiveness and resistance to treatment. Olopade first described recurrent BRCA1 mutations in extended African-American families with breast cancer, and reported BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in pre-menopausal breast cancer patients from West Africa.

As founding director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago, Olopade leads the application of her research from the bench to the bedside. She oversees a coordinated, multidisciplinary, clinical program that includes oncologists, primary care physicians, genetic counselors, sociologists, and psychologists and provides free access to genetic services for local, at-risk populations. Currently, Olopade also heads a West African clinical trial for a pill form of chemotherapy as treatment for women with advanced breast cancer. In bridging continents with her innovative research and service models, Olopade is increasing the probability of improved outcomes for millions of women of African heritage at risk for cancer here and abroad.

Olufunmilayo Olopade received an M.D. (1980) from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and served as a medical officer at the Nigerian Navy Hospital. She completed an internship and residency (1986) at the Cook County Hospital, Chicago, and trained in hematology and ohumanncology as a postdoctoral fellow (1987-1991) at the University of Chicago. Olopade is a professor of medicine and genetics and director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she has been on the faculty since 1991.

About the Foundation:

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. The Foundation makes grants through four programs and by making program-related investments. The Program on Human and Community Development operates primarily within the United States. Issues of interest to the program include community development; regional policy; affordable housing, with a particular emphasis on the preservation of rental housing; and system reform in education, juvenile justice, and mental health. The Program on Global Security and Sustainability focuses on international issues including peace and security, conservation and sustainable development, population and reproductive health, and human rights. The program also supports initiatives in Russia and Nigeria, particularly concerning the improvement of high education. The General Program supports public interest media, including public radio and the production of independent documentary film; and makes grants to arts and cultural institutions in the Chicago area. The MacArthur Fellows Program awards five-year, unrestricted fellowships to individuals across all ages and fields who show exceptional merit and promise of continued creative work. Program-Related Investments are loans and equity investments provided at below-market rates for projects that advance the philanthropic objectives of the Foundation, primarily those of the Program on Human and Community Development. With assets, as of January 1, 2005, of approximately $5 billion, the Foundation makes grants of approximately $180 million each yea

Copyright 2005 Africa Resource Center, Inc.