Fighting to Beat Breast Cancer

Notre Dame Professor Uses Mathematics and Statistics to Transform Breast Cancer Treatment

In the United States, one in every eight women will face breast cancer at some point in her life. Courtney Rauch, a Notre Dame junior, learned upon her diagnosis at age 19 that, ultimately, the decisions concerning her treatment options were hers to make — a hard fact to handle at any age.

Steven Buechler, chair of Notre Dame's Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, is working to help women like Courtney improve the accuracy of the information they receive
 about their diagnosis, allowing them to receive individualized, targeted therapy to combat the disease.

Dr. Buechler’s research is transforming the way we look at breast cancer. Today, Courtney is an applied mathematics major, and works in Dr. Buechler's lab in an effort to help women facing the same disease.