Our Roots
30 years of partnership & advocacy
Our Leadership
KAREN JOY MILLER
Executive Director
Karen is the founder and President of Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, Inc. She initiated the Prevention Is the Cure campaign to increase awareness about environmental links to disease, fostered the Student and Scientist Environmental Research Scholarship Program, was co-chair of the NIEHS PARTNERS, served on the Interagency Breast Cancer and Research Coordinating Committee (IBCERCC), past co-chair of the Suffolk County Cancer Awareness Taskforce, was appointed and had served as Deputy Director of Human Services for the Town of Huntington.
MELANIE GABRELL
Associate Executive Director
Recognizing that there is no straight line in life, Melanie’s focus is to guide youth through HBCAC's Students and Scientists Environmental Research Scholarship Program to shift their perceptions on health and give them the tools to become agents of change now and in their future careers. She developed the 6 week training program for students in partnership with the Pollution Prevention Institute and medical professionals. She additionally sits on the NYSCHECK Summer Academy faculty, infusing advocate messaging and trust build strategies for medical trainees, and continues to explore ways partnerships and youth can inspire change.
Just as important as our leadership are our numerous partners and volunteers.
We have been grateful to be a part of the work of the NYS Children’s Environmental Health Centers, the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Project, Stony Brook University, Long Island University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Michigan State University, University of Delaware, Columbia University, Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative, the NYS DEC, the Just Green Partnership, American Lung Association, Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition, Silent Spring Institute, Research Triangle Park, and more.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
HBCAC was founded in 1992. At the very conception of Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, we sought to answer the question Why?
Why do we get breast cancer? What we found was emerging science on the environmental triggers of diseases and that there are common threads between them. By adopting the precautionary principle and advocating for change, we sought to improve the lives of the people in our community. And thus, the Prevention Is The Cure campaign was born. Since 1999, working in partnership with other anti-cancer, environmental organizations, HBCAC brings fresh focus on the causes of diseases rather than ways of coping with it once diagnosed.
What is Environmental Health? Environmental Health is defined by the NEHA as: the science and practice of preventing human injury and illness and promoting well-being by identifying and evaluating environmental sources and hazardous agents and limiting exposures to hazardous physical, chemical, and biological agents in air, water, soil, food, and other environmental media or settings that may adversely affect human health.
We seek to:
INCREASE public awareness of environmental links to disease,
GAIN support for the “Precautionary Principle” as it applies to public policy,
URGE the public to demand more funding for environmental health research, &
ENCOURAGE a “better safe than sorry” attitude toward personal lifestyle.
Prevention Is The Cure suggests eight steps every person can take to reduce the risk of disease:
Support increased funding for environmental health research
Avoid exposure to toxic pesticides and toxic cleaning products
Avoid plastics
Seek and use alternative products
Avoid non-essential medical and dental x-rays
Avoid synthetic hormones in dairy and meat
Eat organically grown fruits and vegetables
Engage in moderate (one hour) daily exercise
Support the Precautionary Principle
*The most widely cited definition of the precautionary principle, which emerged in 1998 at the Wingspread Conference, states: “When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.”
PREVENTION IS THE CURE™ provides science-based information to local citizens so they can prevent cancer in their homes and communities. We want Congress and the U.S. Department of Health to rethink their approaches to health research and public health policy by making disease prevention a cornerstone of their funding priorities.