The Difference Between Komen Central Indiana, the Komen Tissue Bank and Indy's Super Cure Event

There are two separate organizations in Indianapolis with the Komen name on them.

Central Indiana Affiliate of Susan G. Komen®
(“Komen Central Indiana”)

 

Komen Central Indiana is one of 124 independent affiliates of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization. We raise money to fund research, breast health education, early screening and detection services and survivor support initiatives.

Serve Local People. 75% of the funds raised in Central Indiana to fund programs providing outreach, mammograms, treatment assistance and survivor support to people in need. See recent stories and news in Central Indiana.

Invest in Global Research. 25% of the funds raise go to Komen Research Grant Program, which invests in studies seeking the causes, improved treatments and ultimately the cures for breast cancer. To see programs that Komen sponsors - including the Komen Tissue Bank - go here.

We also host local breast health initiatives. One such program we founded was the Amelia Project, which is an annual forum for breast health experts to come together to discuss news, best practices and gaps in knowledge. In 2004, one of the gaps identified was not having any healthy breast tissue to study. Having healthy breast tissue could help identify why and when cancer cells start to turn – this was the reason the Komen Tissue Bank was founded.

Susan G. Komen© Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center
(“Komen Tissue Bank”)

 

The Komen Tissue Bank in Indianapolis is the only healthy breast tissue bank in the world. Women come from across Indiana and neighboring states to donate healthy breast tissue, oncologists come from all around to visit, and researchers across the globe submit requests to study the samples in the bank.

What started in 2005 as a small, Indianapolis-based initiative to collect healthy breast tissue from donors – then called the “Mary Ellen’s Tissue Bank” – has grown into a much bigger initiative, funded largely by the Susan G. Komen National Office, The Catherine Peachey Fund and individual donors. The goal is to provide researchers with healthy blood and breast tissue to use as comparison to diseased tissue in order to identify and understand changes. The history and purpose behind the Komen Tissue Bank is too rich to cover here, so you can read more about it on their site. To find out how donating healthy breast tissue works and what to expect, you can read this firsthand tissue donation account.

Indy’s Super Cure

Indy’s Super Cure initiative is a partnership between The Super Bowl Host Committee, the NFL and a number of other local organizations and individuals to build support for the Komen Tissue Bank. The goal of the initiative is to raise $1 million to increase the capacity of the Tissue Bank; increase the number of donors from diverse populations to better balance the inventory of tissue samples for researchers; and to use the global stage of the Super Bowl to highlight Central Indiana’s commitment to advancing life sciences, medicine and healthcare. For more information about this initiative click here.