Professors Maria Contel, Jennifer Basil, and Brian R. Gibney will head the Brooklyn College Cancer Center (CommUnity Outreach, Research and Education) BCCC-CURE, which was established this year with a mission to enhance the lives of patients affected by cancer with a special focus on Brooklyn residents. Through this center, Brooklyn College seeks to expand its research on cancer and to combine research forces with local cancer treatment centers, hospitals, and Brooklyn communities, while delivering first-class educational opportunities to our students. Contel, the director of BCCC-CURE, is an organometallic chemist and former chair of the Chemistry Department who holds two patents and has been testing compound metals to combat breast cancer for the better part of her career. Basil, a professor and former chair of the Biology Department, is serving as associate director of community outreach. She is a breast cancer survivor who has been involved in outreach and advocacy since 2004. Her scholarship focuses on the evolution of behavioral and brain complexity. Gibney, an associate professor in the Chemistry Department, is the associate director of education. His laboratory focuses on the role of zinc in controlling gene expression in cancer as well as other research on heart disease.
