Since I started working at the Foundation in 2020, I have heard many wonderful things about the projects we have underway at home and abroad. I have been especially interested in the NIH-Funded CAD Study which is being run by our partners in Guadalajara with the goal of helping women in low- and middle-income countries have better access to breast cancer screening. Breast cancer is now the most diagnosed cancer worldwide, and this kind of early detection will change (and save) lives. So, when the opportunity arose to actually go down to Guadalajara for two days and see the process firsthand, I grabbed my camera and packed my bag.
My priority was to schedule time with the doctors and researchers. But, to my surprise, I was also fortunate to meet one of the women involved in the study, and it was through tears that she shared her story and her experience. Because of the research we are doing in Guadalajara, when health care providers found a small lump in her breast using the portable ultrasound machine, they were able to act quickly. Already, so many lives have been changed because of this research, and we will impact even more as we move into the next phase of this study.
Our Foundation is committed to diversity and inclusion. Watching Foundation Medical Advisor Dr. Ana Lilia Lopez interact with patients was evidence of this commitment in action. What we do comes from a place of love. And for me, that love was most evident in Guadalajara.