"The recent University of Alabama in Huntsville nursing school graduate formed a nonprofit organization, Pine Cone Inc., dedicated to helping break down barriers, financially and emotionally, for women concerning the importance of breast health awareness. "

""A pine cone is like a woman's body in that it houses seeds and expels them to the ground to make more," said McCants, explaining the name of her organization. "We wanted a name that was catchy and amicable to adults and children alike. A pine cone is analogous to a woman's body, which is fertile and produces offspring." "

"At the time of her aunt's diagnosis, McCants was working in a post-graduate research position at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. A Texas Southern University political science major, she planned on a career in the legal profession like her father, an attorney in Washington, D.C., where she grew up. "

"But her aunt's diagnosis and eventual death, plus McCants' new-found intrigue with the medical profession, changed not only her profession, but her life as well. "

""At first it was scary because I was wet behind the ears," said McCants. "I was not familiar with drawing blood or asking intrusive questions. But you have to do it. The more I learned, the more I liked it. It was where I belonged." "

"While studying breast cancer as one of her research projects, McCants learned more than 40,000 American women die of breast cancer, and 205,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. She also discovered many women over 35 do not have annual mammograms for several reasons, but cost and fear of what it will show are the primary reasons. "

"A story in the Washington Post in May reported, for the first time since 1987, the proportion of U. S. women getting mammograms fell 4 percent between 2000-05, based on a study by the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "

""It propelled me to keep going," said McCants, who chose to attend UAH after her husband, Alex, accepted an engineering job at SAIC here in 2004. "It lit a fire to push forward to break down the barriers that keep women from getting breast exams or mammograms." "

"At first, McCants used her own money to help make women aware of the need for mammograms and breast exams. But she realized she needed much more to get the word out and turned to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for assistance. "

"McCants
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