Alastair Thompson, director of the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, is a world-renowned expert on breast cancer. He can speak to its diagnosis and treatment, as well as efforts underway at IU and beyond to cure breast cancer. In addition to his center role, he serves as the Vera Bradley Foundation Senior Professor of Breast Cancer Discovery at IU School of Medicine.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among women and the second-leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States.