The first STAR participant advisory board meeting was held on Friday, April 6, 2001 at the NSABP Operations Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Thirteen of the sixteen PAB members were present, representing a cross section of STAR participants across the U.S. and Canada.

They met with NSABP doctors and staff members to get to know both the trial and one another.

The day began with a slide presentation by Dr. Lawrence Wickerham, Protocol Officer for STAR, who gave the board members an overview of STAR.

They next heard from STAR's program director, Dr. Worta McCaskill-Stevens of the National Cancer Institute, who went into more detail about STARs efforts toward breast cancer prevention.

The PAB members then had a chance to introduce themselves and explain their motivation for joining STAR. Most shared moving stories of how breast cancer has affected those close to them and how that inspired them to get actively involved in the prevention of the disease.

At the lunch break, the participants mingled, laughed, shared experiences, and made new friends.

After lunch, the PAB viewed the recently completed STAR introductory videos (one of which featured board member Judith Jordan) and a local TV news piece from Oklahoma that featured board member Inola Highfill.

It was then time for a photo shoot with each participant. As the PAB members waited their turn to be photographed, they had plenty of time to chat, exchange notes on what they had learned, and even ask advice of the study doctors who were on hand.

Near the end of the day, the board members and some of the NSABP Operations staff left the Operations building in Pittsburgh's North Side and drove to the Biostatistical Center in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Oakland, a few miles away.

At the Biostatistical Center, Judy Jones explained how information on STAR participants is gathered and organized to help researchers learn from the study.