PROFILE
Associate Professor Jennifer Stone
Started at UWA: 2013
Improving breast cancer detection to save lives
The people and the possibilities motivate me to do what I do. I believe that surrounding yourself with the best people will produce the best results – and not just academics and clinicians, but everyday people from whom to listen and learn.Associate Professor Jennifer Stone
Associate Professor Jennifer Stone is an epidemiologist and internationally recognised breast density research expert. Dr Stone is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Genetic Origins of Health and Disease at UWA, funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Her research aims to support accumulating evidence for the clinical use of measures of breast density to improve breast cancer screening.
Most recently, A/Professor Stone has worked to establish her own research team at UWA, leading several nationally funded grants investigating novel measures of breast density in young women. Through this research, she is also working to build upon the knowledge and awareness of breast density in the general population, the impact of breast density notification in Western Australia, and breast density in Western Australian Aboriginal women.
A/Professor Stone is involved with several national and international projects investigating the genetic determinants of breast density as a strong and highly heritable intermediate phenotype for breast cancer risk.
A/Professor Stone guest lectures for the following units:
Received the Mavis Robertson Leadership Award, National Breast Cancer Foundation, 2017
Awarded the Government of Western Australia’s New Independent Researcher Infrastructure Support Prize, 2014
Received the Research Collaborative Award, UWA, 2014
News
Investigating breast density measurement and risk
For many women, the density of their breast tissue can impact on the ability of mammograms to detect tumours. Dense breast tissue is coming to light as one of the strongest predictors of breast cancer risk – on par with carrying a mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
Read moreWomen should be told about their breast density when they have a mammogram
Women with higher breast density for their age are more likely to develop breast cancer. High breast density also makes it harder for doctors to detect breast cancer on a mammogram.
Read moreCould breast density be key to reducing risk of cancer
A UWA pilot study into breast density among young women is being launched by West Australian researchers in the hope of reducing cancer risk later in life.
Read moreFunding
Associate Professor Stone has received competitive research funding from Cancer Australia, Cancer Council WA, the Raine Medical Research Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Royal Perth Hospital Medical Research Foundation. The details of recent grants can be found below.
2018
Department of Health
- BreastScreen WA Breast Density Survey
- Stone, J., Saunders, C. & Thompson, S.
2017 – 2020
National Breast Cancer Foundation
- Career Development Fellowship - Towards better breast screening for Australian women
- Stone, J.
2015 – 2016
Cancer Australia
- Mammographic density as a predictor of breast cancer risk and mortality in Western Australian Aboriginal women
- Saunders, C., Thompson, S., Wylie, L., Stone, J. & Redfern, A.
National Breast Cancer Foundation
- Pilot Study Grant - A Novel Method to Measure Breast Density in Young Women
- Stone, J. & Sampson, D.
2015
Royal Perth Hospital
- The Effects of Rapid Weight Loss on Mammographic Density a Strong Predictor of Breast Cancer Risk
- Stone, J., Hamdorf, J. & Saunders, C.
2014
Breast Cancer Research Centre WA
- Identifying Rare Genetic Variants Associated with Mammographic Density a Strong and Heritable Breast Cancer Risk Factor
- Stone, J.
2012 – 2015
National Breast Cancer Foundation
- Understanding Mammographic Density & Making it a Clinically Useful Predictor of Breast Cancer Risk
- Stone, J.
More grants and publications.