Changes coming to Komen for the Cure

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has unveiled plans to move to a new management structure to focus on revenue creation, strategy, and global growth.

In addition, Nancy Brinker, founder and CEO, will step down as CEO, while Liz Thompson, the organization's president, will relinquish that position next month. Thompson joined Komen in 2008 to lead its research and scientific programs and became president in 2010.

Board members Brenda Lauderback and Linda Law, who have served on the Komen board since 2008 and 2009, respectively, are leaving the board of directors.

Brinker founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 1982, two years after her sister, Susan G. Komen, died of breast cancer.

Komen has invested $1.3 billion over the past 30 years into community programs for screening, education, and financial and psychosocial support for people facing breast cancer. In 2011, Komen paid for 700,000 breast screenings for low-income and uninsured women, while providing financial aid to another 100,000 women.

The organization came under fire earlier this year after a controversial shift in funding policy that would have cut off funds to Planned Parenthood. Komen reversed the policy after a public outcry.

Komen's campaign promoting mammography also was criticized earlier this month in an opinion article in British Medical Journal, which said the campaign overstated the benefits of mammography while understating harms such as overdiagnosis and uncertainty over false-positive findings.