The story of BRCA Network
BRCA network was officially registered as a Belgian association in January 2024, after several months of work (and years of reflection). The association was founded by Martina Fraioli, carrier of a BRCA 1 mutation, together with two co-founders Daphné t’Kint de Roodenbeke and Geoffroy Dubois.
Martina discovered that she was a carrier of the BRCA 1 mutation at 24 years old, after her mom’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Immediately after her BRCA diagnosis, she felt completely lost and lonely and it was thanks to the aBRCAdabra association (the reference association for BRCA carriers in Italy, where she lived at the time) that she was able to find all the necessary information about the mutation and its impact. Thanks to the association she also came into contact with many people in the same situation and the exchange was vital! When she arrived in Belgium in 2019 she did not find the same community of patients and she realised that there was no centralised place where information on cancer and genetic mutations could be found. After various complex personal and family events, she decided to create this platform for exchange, support and information at a national level. Thus BRCA network was born.
Martina Fraioli
President and founder
“I felt that my story and that of my family was the story of many others. I have lived in Belgium for 5 years and since my arrival I have struggled to find a support community and a reference platform for BRCA people at a national level. There is an urgent need in Belgium (and beyond) to raise awareness, to talk about genetic testing, prevention, new treatment options, and to create a community of support for all those who have a BRCA (or similar) genetic mutation. The exchange of information and experience can save lives”
BRCA network asbl/vzw
