TOGETHER…Preventing Breast Cancer
It is almost never too early or too late to take steps to lower the risk of breast cancer. This is the message of the free e-book: TOGETHER – Every Woman’s Guide to Preventing Breast Cancer.
Covering the latest science on breast cancer prevention, TOGETHER highlights the key steps all women – and their daughters and granddaughters – can take to improve their breast health and lower their risk of adult breast cancer.
Written by noted Washington University School of Medicine cancer researchers Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH and Katherine Weilbaecher, MD, and medical writer, Hank Dart, MS, TOGETHER takes a unique approach to the disease that many women say is their #1 health fear.
Half of all breast cancers could be avoided by things most women can do. When healthy behaviors are started early in life, the benefits are even greater. TOGETHER shows you how to lower or manage your risk of breast cancer – and how to help your daughters and granddaughters do the same.
In today’s world of information overload, it can be hard to make sense of everything we see, read, and hear about breast cancer prevention. TOGETHER cuts through all this and focuses on the essential messages that make a real and practical difference to women and their families.
It’s a new approach.
It’s for mothers, daughters, granddaughters, and women of all ages.
It’s TOGETHER.
“Every woman has the power to improve her breast health. And every woman has the power to help others in her life make healthy choices that can lower their breast cancer risk. Some steps are easy. Some are harder. But they’re all important. This book is your guide.”
–TOGETHER – Every Woman’s Guide to Preventing Breast Cancer
About the Authors
Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPH
Dr. Colditz, MD, DrPH, is an epidemiologist and associate director for Prevention and Control at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri. He is the Niess-Gain Professor in Medicine, Department of Surgery, at Washington University School of Medicine. He served as Principal Investigator of the Nurses’ Health Study located at the Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital from 1999 to 2006. This cohort follows 121,700 U.S. women with questionnaire assessment of lifestyle factors and the use of biomarkers to assess risk of chronic diseases among women (reference: www.nurseshealthstudy.org). He continues to collaborate on this study and on studies based on tissue samples from participants with prior biopsies for benign breast disease to evaluate changes that predict future risk of breast cancer. He has a major interest in the etiology and prevention of cancer working with numerous state and national organizations to translate research findings from ongoing studies into public health strategies for prevention. Since 2004, he has been funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to further evaluate risk factors for breast cancer and the potential for prevention. He is a Fellow of the Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, the Royal Australian College of Physicians, and a member of the Institute of Medicine.
Katherine N. Weilbaecher, MD
Katherine N. Weilbaecher, MD is an oncologist who specializes in treating breast cancer. She is also a researcher who focuses on understanding the biology of metastasis. Much of her research is on how bone cells interact with tumor cells to support the growth of metastases. Dr. Weilbaecher is a Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis and co-leads the research program in breast cancer at the Siteman Cancer Center.
Dr. Weilbaecher received her medical degree from Stanford Medical School and completed her oncology fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at the Harvard Medical School in Boston before joining the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in 2000. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University.
Hank Dart, MS
Hank Dart, MS is a Health Communications Lead who works in prevention and control for the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine. He was first introduced to the power of prevention and the importance of healthy behaviors in an undergraduate class on cardiovascular disease at Stanford University taught by Dr. Abby King. Since that time, he’s dedicated his career to one overarching goal – helping people improve their lives by providing them with tools and incentives to take charge of their health.
He has worked for 20 years in health education and health communication, both on the federal level and in academia. He is currently the project leader of the popular and award-winning health risk assessment website, Your Disease Risk, and its spin-off mobile app, Zuum. His primary interest is in distilling complex scientific findings into useful messages for the public. He has previously worked for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health; and the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention. He received his bachelors degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and his master of science degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.