After spending 14 days in the
hospital recovering from breast cancer surgery, University of Wisconsin-Stevens
Point Biology Professor Diane Caporale realized that her experience gave her a
greater purpose.
“I felt that if I survived
through it all, I had to educate others about breast cancer,” she said.
The five-year cancer survivor
will share her personal journey as well as her genetic research on breast
cancer as part of the 10th annual University Evening at 7 p.m. on
Wednesday, Oct. 30. Her presentation, “I Inherited More from My Father than his
Good Looks: A Case Study on Breast Cancer,” will be held in the Alumni Room of
the Dreyfus University Center, with a reception to follow. The event is open to
the public, free of charge.
University Evening invites the community to learn more
about the creativity and scholarship of distinguished UW-Stevens Point faculty.
In her talk, Caporale hopes to educate others on the
risks for both men and women who carry the BRCA breast cancer gene, which may
lead to breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. “If caught early, the prognosis
can be excellent,” she said.
Caporale’s research into breast cancer and human genetics
began a few years ago with the support of one of her students, 2012 graduate
Erica Swenson, now a medical student at UW-Madison. In addition to teaching
molecular biology and genetics, she also mentors several student research
projects such as the spread of tick-borne diseases in Wisconsin.
Caporale holds a doctoral degree in genetics and a
master’s degree in biology secondary education from the University of New
Hampshire, and an undergraduate biology degree from the University of Vermont.
She and her husband, UW-Stevens Point Biology Professor Chris Hartleb, have two
daughters.
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