PwC FOUNDATION
 
 

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has always been committed to the community. In 2002 they structured their involvement to increase the impact of their community initiatives. This was the beginning of the PwC Foundation. The Foundation is about more than just "giving money", it is about building long-term, sustainable partnerships with their charity partners and connecting them with the all five initiatives of the Foundation:

• PwC in the Community - Hands-on community volunteering
• PwC People Giving – Payroll giving to help charities achieve their financial goals
• Capacity Building - Delivering value by sharing their expertise
• PwC Corporate / Community Leadership - Developing leaders with impact
• PwC Foundation Trust - Further enhancing the impact they make

It is within these five initiatives that the National Breast Cancer Foundation receives support from the PwC Foundation.

Every day more than 5,000 people across Australia go to work to help provide the clients of PricewaterhouseCoopers with the knowledge they need to run their businesses. It is these people, the staff at PwC, who select the charities they want the Foundation to support. Every three years, PwC people are surveyed to determine which charities within the 5 cause area’s (poverty, health, children, environmental conservation and young people) they believe need the support of the Foundation. The National Breast Cancer Foundation was chosen by PwC people for the second time in 2005.

Funds raised by the PwC Foundation are targeted to two research projects.

The first, led by Ella Thompson at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria examines the pattern genes express in a tumour and how this can indicate how the cancer arose. Tumours from women with a mutation in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 which are known to cause cancer have distinct patterns of gene expression. Analysis of tumours from women with familial breast cancer, whose mutations are in as yet unknown genes, will provide information about additional breast cancer susceptibility genes.

The second, is a research project led by Dr Geoffrey Beadle from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, which examines the effect of chemotherapy treatment on cognitive functioning in early breast cancer. Survivorship issues for cancer patients are now a focus of public and research policy. In the last decade studies have highlighted cognitive impairment in women with early breast cancer who are treated with chemotherapy. There is an important gap however in the knowledge provided by these studies and the ability to diagnoses and treat individual women with significant impairments. Dr Beadle and his team aim to follow women with breast cancer to understand the impact of cognitive impairment, including planning, attention and memory, on the lives of individuals following chemotherapy. The findings from this study will lead to appropriate interventions to assist women who experience cognitive changes after chemotherapy.

"Our partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation has grown from strength to strength over the past few years. Through our targeted program we support essential research into finding a cure for breast cancer. We believe that in order to make a significant and lasting impact in the community we need to connect the hearts and minds of our people with the charities we work with and events such as the Mothers Day Classic in May and Pink Ribbon Breakfasts in October enable us to continue to raise breast cancer awareness while contributing additional funds in the search for a cure". Carolyn Bruce, PwC Foundation Manager