Funds raised in 2020 will continue to support the research of Dr. Rachel Freedman
Dr. Rachel Freedman is a medical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Medical Director of the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative. Her research primarily focuses on the care of vulnerable patients populations who are not well represented in clinical trials to date and who suffer from worse outcomes once they are diagnosed with breast cancer. Her research has included large scale database and registry-based studies, focus group studies, survey studies, and interventions targeted towards improving the evidence base and outcomes for women at risk for poor outcomes.
We will be supporting Dr. Freedman’s research in older women with breast cancer. Although breast cancer is more common in aging populations, older women with breast cancer are under-represented in research, are more likely be under-treated, and are at higher risk for worse survival from their breast cancer compared with middle-aged women. Older women have unique needs when it comes to managing other medical problems, transportation, and financial concerns. Dr. Freedman’s research focuses on developing a better understanding of why outcomes in older patients are worse, what may get in the way of receiving treatments, and how we can develop treatments for older patients that work well and are tolerable. Dr. Freedman has a number of studies dedicated to this group of patients, including clinical trials and observational studies where surveys are conducted to better understand patient and their experiences.
Dr. Freedman is a graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Beth Israel Medical Center and her medical oncology fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She received a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University’s School of Public Health and has been on faculty at Dana-Farber since 2009. She is incredibly appreciative of and honored to receive the generous support from Bakes for Breast Cancer which go will go directly to fund her projects dedicated to older patients with breast cancer which is an area of research that has been vastly under-funded.
