FALMOUTH — Maine Cancer Foundation has announced its most recent funding awards totaling $1.57 million to be distributed to 12 organizations throughout the state.

Grant awards are given to Maine-based nonprofit organizations working to further the Foundation’s mission to reduce cancer incidence and mortality in Maine. This round of funding supports patient navigation, HPV vaccination efforts, operational needs of selected partners and a breast cancer detection diagnostic tool.

Grants totaling $758,000 are allotted to five organizations across the state to underwrite five new patient navigator positions. Patient navigators work individually with cancer patients and community members to help them access prevention information, appropriate screenings and logistical support to access the best possible care. Local organizations selected for patient navigator grants are Central Maine Medical Center, lung screening navigator, $164,000; and MaineGeneral Medical Center, navigators for Kennebec and Somerset counties, $161,562.

The Foundation also allocated $264,000 to Maine Quality Counts to work with primary care practitioners to increase the HPV vaccination rates among Maine youth. Quality Counts, based in Manchester, is a regional health improvement collaborative that brings together people who give care, get care and pay for care to improve health care quality throughout Maine.

The two-year project will increase HPV vaccination rates in 11- to 13-year-old girls and boys by implementing evidenced-based interventions through quality improvement strategies in eight primary care practices in Maine.

In addition, the Foundation is awarding $175,000 in operational grants to five organizations whose missions support the Foundation’s overarching goals of reducing cancer incidence and mortality in Maine, and who have demonstrated excellence in programming in the past.

These grants are not tied to a specific project or outcome, but allow trusted partners to further their mission and reduce the burden of cancer on Mainers. Operational grant recipients include Healthy Communities of the Capital Area, Augusta, $50,000, and Healthy Community Coalition of Greater Franklin County, Farmington, $50,000.

Lastly, the Foundation is providing $375,000 in funding to University of New England in support of the work of Dr. Srinigar Mohan to advance his research into a blood test to detect a biomarker that indicates estrogen-negative cancer at extremely early stages.

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