Jonsson Cancer Center joins statewide UC collaboration to target breast cancer

UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center is taking part in an unprecedented statewide University of California collaboration to revolutionize care for breast cancer patients by designing and testing systemwide new approaches to research, technology and health care delivery. Called the ATHENA Breast Health Network, the groundbreaking project will initially involve 150,000 California women, who will be screened for breast cancer and followed for decades through the five UC cancer centers. The ATHENA project is supported by a $5.3 million University of California grant and by a $4.8 million grant from the Safeway Foundation. The project is expected to generate a rich collection of data and knowledge that will shape breast cancer care the way the renowned Framingham heart study changed the care of patients with heart disease. "ATHENA is a model of multi-institutional collaboration and demonstrates the enormous potential in shared systems," said Dr. John D. Stobo, UC senior vice president for health sciences and services. "This is a great example of the power of our statewide university network of academic medical centers; this initiative will demonstrate that the total of what can be accomplished by UC functioning as an integrated system can far exceed the sum of contributions by the individual campuses. ATHENA represents an unprecedented opportunity to play a leadership role in driving critical changes in health care.