Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s beach volleyball league returned for its 31st season in 2022. A tight-knit team of breast cancer researchers—aptly named Breast Friends—won the championship title this year. The team members work together in CSHL Associate Professor Camila dos Santos’ laboratory.
A long-standing tradition, volleyball is one of the most popular social events at CSHL during the summer. The friendly matches help foster collaboration and camaraderie among lab members both on and off the sandy court. “We’re supportive on the court. We’re also supportive in the lab. We’re always talking to each other, helping each other out with projects,” says Samantha Henry, co-captain of Breast Friends.
Breast cancer researchers Marygrace Trousdell and Samantha Henry discuss the teamwork and diligence that has driven their success both during the CSHL volleyball championship and in the lab.
The team was named Breast Friends because “we’re all best friends,” says co-captain Marygrace Trousdell. “We just get along really well when it comes down to the work we do, you know, nose to the grindstone, and we’re all supportive of each other. It makes the science we do all the more exciting.” Aside from volleyball and raft races, the dos Santos team participates in various fundraising events for breast cancer research, such as the Young Survival Coalition Tour de Pink® bike ride.
Today Henry, Trousdell, and the rest of the dos Santos lab are working toward another victory, this time in the fight against breast cancer. The lab is researching the relationship between breast tissue development and cancer risk after pregnancy. They hope their work will help uncover new ways to beat breast cancer through better detection, treatment, and prevention strategies.
Read more about CSHL’s breast cancer research here.
Written by: Luis Sandoval, Communications Specialist | sandova@cshl.edu | 516-367-6826