THE BREAST CANCER AND OVARIAN CANCER GENE: ARE YOU AT RISK?

On Friday, March 6, Clark College nursing professor Laurie Brown
will lead an important discussion as part of Clark College’s 2008-2009 Faculty Speaker Series

VANCOUVER, Wash. – All of us have the breast cancer gene. It is there for our protection. What if you found out that your gene did not work? Would you want to know?

That discussion will be the focus of Clark College’s next Faculty Speaker Series event. It will be held on Friday, March 6 from noon to 1 p.m. in the college’s Gaiser Student Center. The event is free and open to the public. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Maps and directions are available on the Clark College Web site at www.clark.edu/maps

One in 500 people have a genetic mutation to their BRCA gene. Brown notes, “We all have the protective BRCA (breast cancer) gene, but recent research shows that BRCA mutations make both men and women more susceptible to the development cancers in breast and ovarian tissue.”

During her presentation, Brown will discuss how health care professionals determine an individual’s risk of carrying changed BRCA genes and what options are available for those who are carriers.

About Laurie Brown

Laurie Brown is a tenured nursing professor at Clark College. A graduate of Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV), Laurie earned a Masters of Nursing Science and specialized in community nursing and nursing education. She also holds a dual masters degree in Public Administration and Health Administration from Portland State University. Laurie Brown maintains an advanced Critical Care Certification in Nursing (CCRN). She still actively practices bedside nursing when not teaching.

Beyond critical care, Brown specializes in cardiac care and oncology. The Conference for Clinical Excellence, a national nursing symposium held in 2002, honored Laurie Brown by inviting her to present a poster board of her research on breast cancer (BRCA) genetics. She also created and facilitated a community teaching project on breast cancer and the BRCA gene mutation. Her efforts in community nursing won her WSU’s outstanding graduate student of the year award in 2002.

Between 2001 and 2004, Laurie Brown received service recognition awards from Hambleton Project, an agency serving women with cancer. In 2001, she was recognized with Washington State University's Julie Ebreck Nursing Award. From 2001 through 2003, she served on Washington State University’s Diversity Task Force. Laurie Brown has been the advisor for the Student Nurses Association of Clark College (SNACC) for the past six years.

Additionally, she is a volunteer with the Clark County Public Health Department’s Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). Under Brown's guidance, SNACC won the "volunteer of the year" award from MRC in 2008.

About the Clark College Faculty Speaker Series

The Faculty Speaker Series, established by Clark College with support from the Clark College Foundation, honors individual faculty members and celebrates academic excellence.

Each fall, winter and spring quarter, the Faculty Speaker Series showcases experiences that have enriched both the life and teaching of a Clark faculty member. Throughout the series, faculty members share their developmental experiences with the college community – and members of the community at large – while addressing some of today’s most intriguing issues.