Curing Cancer from the Outside
A grant from Art beCAUSE will fund Xinhai Yang’s research on environmental causes of cancer.
Xinhai Yang, a research associate in the School of Public Health’s department of environmental health, recently received a $10,000 grant from Art beCAUSE, a foundation that funds research aimed at identifying and eradicating the environmental causes of breast cancer. He is the first beneficiary of the organization’s Seed the Scientist effort, which provides scientists with start-up money for breast cancer research.
Yang’s research proposal, “The Role of an Environmental Chemical Receptor, the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor in Breast Cancer Cell Survival,” was chosen for the grant from three proposals submitted to Art beCAUSE. “The research project I’m doing exactly matches the foundation’s goal,” says Yang, who works under the mentorship of David Sherr, an SPH professor of environmental health.
Ellie Anbinder (SED’62) and Joyce Creiger (CAS’62), founders of Art beCAUSE, established the Seed the Scientist grant to address the need for breast cancer research funding at various institutions.
Yang received the award during the foundation’s annual November fundraiser, a wine pairing dinner and art auction. Art beCAUSE derives its name from artists who have donated a percentage of their sales to the foundation.
Brittany Jasnoff (COM’08) can be reached at bjasnoff@bu.edu.