Good Morning, Brooklyn: Friday, October 22, 2021

October 22, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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Maria Contel, director, BCCC-CURE.
Photo courtesy of Brooklyn College Cancer Center

BROOKLYN COLLEGE LAUNCHES NEW CANCER CENTER: Brooklyn College has formally launched the Brooklyn College Cancer Center — BCCC-CURE, standing for Community Outreach, Research and Education —and the first education-based center of its kind in Brooklyn focused on research and community partnerships. BCCC-CURE’s mission is to enhance the lives of patients affected by cancer with a special focus on Brooklyn residents who have been traditionally underserved, while focusing on three main areas: research, education and community service.

As part of BCCC-CURE, 25 faculty members are focused on cancer and cancer-related research in one of three main areas: the biology and biochemistry of cancer, the underlying mechanisms of the disease, and drug development and delivery systems. Director Maria Contel said the center is already developing potential drugs for different types of cancer or delivery systems for FDA-approved drugs.

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THREE HOSPITAL SYSTEMS JOIN BROOKLYN COLLEGE FOR SYMPOSIUM: Furthering its mission to engage the community with cancer-related information and support, the newly-launched Brooklyn College Cancer Center (BCCC-CURE) will participate in the first Brooklyn Breast Cancer Symposium with Maimonides Medical Center (MMC), SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) on Friday, October 29, from 8:50 a.m. to 1:05 p.m. Brooklyn College faculty members Maria Contel, director of BCCC-CURE; Jenny Basil, associate director for community outreach; and Brian Gibney, associate director of education, will join a dozen physicians, researchers and nurse practitioners from Maimonides Medical Center, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

This four-part symposium will tackle a wide range of topics related to breast health. Two sessions focus on research including basic science research, preclinical studies and clinical trials. All events are free, online, and open to the public, and will also be offered via Zoom. Visit the Brooklyn College Cancer Center’s website for more information.

Medical professionals at the Brooklyn College Cancer Center.
Photo courtesy of Brooklyn College Cancer Center

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MTA WINS AWARD FOR ITS TOLLS NY APP: The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) honored the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (MTA Bridges and Tunnels) with the IBTTA President’s Award for Excellence last week. MTA Bridges and Tunnels received the award for its Tolls NY smartphone application, which it developed in collaboration with the New York State Thruway Authority, the Port Authority and Conduent Transportation. The app gives tolling customers in the region more self-service options to manage payments for the toll roads, bridges and tunnels they use, while also giving toll operators a new way to communicate critical messages directly to their customers.

The award is the highest honor bestowed by IBTTA each year and was presented on October 11 during IBTTA’s 89th Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Anaheim, CA.

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PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM TOXINS IN BABY FOOD: New York Attorney General Letitia James, leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general, today petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to protect the health and well-being of babies by accelerating actions to remove toxic heavy metals found in infant and toddler foods. The petition responds to rising alarm about the health hazards posed by dangerous heavy metals in these foods, and the failure of baby food brands and their suppliers to aggressively reduce these hazards.

Though the FDA does set limits on toxic metals in other consumable products — like bottled water, juice, and candy — the agency has failed to adequately regulate baby food, and has, so far, only established just one action level for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal —notwithstanding the FDA’s own studies showing that babies are more vulnerable to the harmful neurotoxic effects of these metals.

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MORE DEVELOPMENT FUNDING FOR DISABLED WORKFORCE: Governor Kathy Hochul has committed $11.1 million in federal workforce development funding over the next three years to expand the successful network of Disability Resource Coordinators to all 33 local workforce development areas and to better serve individuals with disabilities in New York State Career Centers. While about half of the 33 local workforce development areas previously had direct access to a Disability Resource Coordinator. NY SCION will fund the placement of a Disability Resource Coordinator in more areas including several positions in New York City. Their role will be to improve and support employment outcomes for youth and adults with disabilities and to establish and expand partnerships leveraging resources across multiple service systems.

The coordinators will train both state and partner staff in best practices to ensure consistent levels of service across the workforce system and in every career center.

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CO-NAMING FOR HAITIAN EARLY PIONEER: Members of Brooklyn’s Haitian and Caribbean American communities will honor an icon of Haitian history on Sunday, October 24 with a street co-naming for a part of Flatbush Avenue at the intersection of Clarendon Rd. City Councilmember Mathieu Eugene and Council Speaker Corey Johnson will join area Haitian, Black, Latino and Asian groups to christen Jean Baptiste Point de Sable Boulevard.

Jean Baptiste Point de Sable (1750-1818) is regarded as the first permanent non-Indigenous settler of what would later become Chicago, Illinois, and is recognized as the “Founder of Chicago.” The site where he settled near the mouth of the Chicago River around the 1780s has been named a National Historic Landmark.