Ridin' to a cure this weekend in Oconomowoc

A long time tradition on honoring breast cancer survivors and raising money for research will continue Friday and Saturday in Oconomowoc with the annual Ridin' to a Cure.

This is the 21st annual motorcycle ride hosted by Wisconsin Harley-Davidson and the Rock River Hog Chapter which has formed its own foundation for the cause.

On Friday evening, there will be a per-registration party 5-9 p.m. at Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc which will feature a survivors' parade through downtown.

Then on Saturday, September 26th, the ride will take off from Wisconsin Harley-Davidson starting at 9 a.m. with riders departing every 15 minutes.

There will also be a post ride party from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. back at the Olympia Resort.  

The Foundation manages the net proceeds of the “Ridin’ to a Cure” motorcycle event as well as other donations given to us in trust.  

These funds support breast cancer research programs such as new treatment options, diagnosis and critical lab research.

"In the 20 years that we've done this, everybody volunteers for this," explained Woody West of the Rock River Hog Chapter. "We've raised over $4.3 million and given it to local researchers." 

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Since its inception the foundation has funded projects such as:

1. Clinical research studies at Waukesha Memorial Hospital on lymph node and cell tracking connected to metastasis and Tamoxafin in chemotherapy.

2. Autogenesis studies on tumor growth inhibitors, immunotherapy drug treatments and effects of drugs used in chemotherapy.

3. Research on the effects of timing of estrogen receptor activation, iron and proteins in cells, tumor nutrients that may promote abnormal cell growth and therapies for breast cancer treatments and the study of long term hormonal adjuvant therapy in older women with incident breast cancer.

4. Endowed chair position at Medical College of Wisconsin to Dr. Ann Nattinger. A nationally recognized cancer health services researcher, Dr. Nattinger's extensive research work includes studying treatment of breast cancer patients, therapy treatment options, physician communication with patients, the utilization of screening tests– where she developed strategies practitioners can use to improve the utilization of screening mammography by their patients.

5. A grant to Dr. Judy Tjoe M.D. – F.A.C.S> Medical Director at Aurora Healthcare Comprehensive Breast Care Center to study the predictive value of certain cell membranebio-markers in ADH/ALH to hallmark the onset of breast cancer. 

6. A substantial grant to Dr. Carol Willliams, PhD, a molecular biologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin to study proteins that may affect cancer cell migration. Regulation of small GTPases by the unique protein known as SmgGDS. Recently discovered there are two functionally distinct splice variants of SmgGDS, which we named SmgGDS-607 and SmgGDS-558, based on the number of amino acids in each protein.