Komen Scholar Since 2022

Yale University School of Medicine

New Haven, CT

Tracy A. Battaglia, M.D., M.P.H., is a primary care physician and health services researcher internationally recognized for her collaborative and innovative approaches to ensuring access to quality care among communities historically marginalized. Dr. Battaglia completed her medical school training at Boston University and her Internal Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, returning to Boston University to complete a Primary Care Fellowship and Preventive Medicine Residency Program with a concentration in Women’s Health. In 2024, Dr Battaglia joined Yale Cancer Center as the inaugural Associate Director for Cancer Care Equity, where she is charged with diminishing cancer disparities across the state, with an emphasis on equitable care delivery. She spent 25 years as a practicing women’s health physician-scientist at Boston University Medical Center, the largest SafetyNet medical center in New England focusing on addressing health inequities by engaging the community as partners in action-oriented research. Rising to the rank of Professor of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, she held multiple leadership roles including Director of Women’s Health (a DHHS designated Center of Excellence), Associate Director of Belkin Breast Health Center, and Director of Community Engagement for the BU Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI) where she led programs, policies, and training to support the use of community-engaged methods in all aspects of translational science. Her own research focuses on designing, implementing, and evaluating multi-level health system interventions in pursuit of equitable access to care for at-risk women, especially for breast cancer care. A pioneer in the development of oncology Patient Navigation programs that target under-resourced cancer patients, Dr. Battaglia has contributed to the scientific evidence solidifying the impact of navigation on reducing delays across the continuum of cancer care. As founding Chair of the National Navigation Roundtable, she partners across diverse sectors in pursuit of a sustainable navigation workforce. Dr. Battaglia’s Komen-funded research is focused on designing an artificial intelligence-assisted intervention to enhance the ability of patient navigation to identify breast cancer patients eligible for genetic testing and support patient access to address testing disparities.

Komen Scholar Since 2022

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, TX

Mariana Chavez MacGregor, M.D., M.Sc., is a tenured Professor in the Health Services Research Department and holds a joint appointment in the Breast Medical Oncology Department at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is a breast medical oncologist committed to improving the outcomes of her patients while preserving their quality of life and providing evidence-based, research- driven compassionate care. Her research interests focus on outcomes and disparities research, evaluating patterns of care and understanding the long-term effects of therapy. Her work expands to areas related to cost, treatment-related complications and cancer care delivery particularly among minorities and underrepresented populations. She has extensive experience using large databases and population registries to answer clinically-relevant questions. Some of her work has helped to better characterize the impact of treatment delays and identifying populations at higher risk of experiencing treatment delays. In addition, her work is helping to identify patients at higher risk of developing treatment-related complications. Dr. Chavez MacGregor’s Komen-funded research is focused on understanding factors that influence treatment initiation and treatment completion that are associated with adverse outcomes by assessing the impact and risk factors that delay cancer care delivery and developing a navigation intervention for underserved patients.

Komen Scholar Since 2020

Oregon Health Science University

Portland, OR

Lisa M. Coussens, Ph.D., is the Professor and Chairwoman of the Department of Cell, Developmental & Cancer Biology, the Hildegard Lamfrom Endowed Chair in Basic Science, and the Deputy Director for Basic & Translational Research at the Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Coussens’ area of research focuses on inflammation and cancer and understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of immune cell recruitment into neoplastic tissue and subsequent regulation of immune cells on evolving cancer cells. In addition, Dr. Coussens and her team investigate the tumor microenvironment and how immune responses vary based on the type of tissue/tumor, as well as how certain subsets of immune cells, notably macrophages, regulate tissue remodeling, angiogenesis, T cell suppression, and tumor progression. The long-term goal of her research is to translate basic science discoveries toward rational design of novel therapeutics to block and/or alter rate-limiting events critical for solid tumor growth, maintenance or recurrence in humans, and/or approaches that enhance the efficacy of standard-of-care cytotoxic or immune therapies. Dr. Coussens’ Komen-funded research is focused on elucidating the mechanisms of therapeutic activation of anti-tumor B memory cells that mediate long-term tumor control to guide the development of new targeted and more effective therapies for the treatment of breast cancer.

Komen Scholar Since 2020

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Christina Curtis, Ph.D., M.Sc., M.S., is the RZ Cao Professor of Medicine, Genetics, and Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University School of Medicine and a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. Additionally, she is the Director of Artificial Intelligence and Cancer Genomics and of Breast Cancer Translational Research at the Stanford Cancer Institute. Trained in molecular and computational biology, Dr. Curtis uses systems biology and computational approaches to understand breast cancer progression. In particular, her research is focused on defining the molecular determinants of tumor progression and identifying robust biomarkers to guide patient stratification. Her work has helped to redefine the molecular map of breast cancer and has led to a renewed understanding of how tumors develop and metastasize. She is translating these breakthrough discoveries to patients to personalize breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring through innovative clinical trials.

Komen Scholar Since 2022

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

Angela M. DeMichele, M.D., M.S.C.E., FASCO, holds the Mariann T. and Robert J. MacDonald Chair in Breast Cancer Research and is Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the development of experimental therapeutics, investigation of prognostic and predictive biomarkers, and design of novel approaches to identify and treat minimal residual disease to prevent recurrence. She has led/co-led several national, multicenter trials, including PALAVY, PALLAS, and COMPASS-pCR. Dr. DeMichele has co-led the Breast Cancer Research Program in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania since 2005, which was rated Exceptional by the NCI in the most recent Cancer Center Core Grant review and has recently been named the Director of Clinical/ Translational Research in Solid Oncology in the Division of Hematology/ Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. She also Co-Directs the 2PREVENT Breast Cancer Translational Center of Excellence, leading a multidisciplinary group of investigators focused on preventing breast cancer recurrence through studies focused on the detection and eradication of molecular residual disease after primary breast cancer treatment. She also currently serves as the Breast Committee Chair of the ECOG/ACRIN Cooperative Group, a Co-PI on the I-SPY Trial, a member of the St. Gallen Early Breast Cancer Consensus Panel, and has served on numerous ASCO Committees, including as Scientific Program Chair in 2024. Her work has been funded through the NIH, DOD, and numerous foundations and recognized with the 2022 Potamkin Prize for Breast Cancer Research from the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the 2023 Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She also trains the next generation of clinical researchers through extensive mentoring, both locally and nationally, as well as thesis advising Master’s Candidates in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. DeMichele’s Komen-funded research is focused on validating new monitoring methods for minimal residual disease to enable novel therapeutic approaches to prevent recurrence by utilizing novel techniques for detecting disseminated tumor cells and circulating tumor DNA.

Komen Scholar Since 2018

Emory University

Atlanta, GA

Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., is the Lawrence W. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. A practicing breast radiation oncologist, Dr. Jagsi has focused her work on improving the quality of care delivered to patients with breast cancer. With a medical degree, a social science doctorate, and fellowship training in ethics, Dr. Jagsi has a unique educational background that allows her to work at eradicating breast cancer through both medical and social research. Studying radiation treatment, she aims at advancing the ways in which breast cancer is treated with radiation and the understanding of patient decision-making, cost, and access to appropriate care. Her social scientific research includes research into issues of bioethics arising from cancer care and research regarding gender issues, including studies of women’s representation in the medical profession. Dr. Jagsi’s Komen-funded research is focused on personalized approaches to radiation therapy, including investigating whether some patients with early-stage breast cancer can forgo radiotherapy to reduce radiation toxicity and burden, as well as evaluating the use of PARP inhibitors in optimizing radiation therapy for inflammatory breast cancer patients.

Komen Scholar 2010-2012 and 2019-

Scientific Advisory Board 2012-2017

Advocates in Science 2008-2018 and 2019-

Kansas City, MO

Cheryl L. Jernigan, CPA, F.A.C.H.E., is a 29-year breast cancer “thriver” and cancer research advocate. She strives to inform and empower patients to be effective partners, working with researchers and clinicians to enhance and focus research on what matters to patients. Cheryl was previously CEO of the Kansas City Area Hospital Association with over 18 years of experience in health policy, advocacy, community and national leadership on behalf of hospitals. Currently, she is the Lead Advocate for: Patient & Investigator Voices Organizing Together (PIVOT), an unique University of Kansas Cancer Center initiative; the Kansas Institute for Precision Medicine; and the Greater Plains Collaborative (a Clinical Data Research Network in the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Initiative (PCORI) PCORnet grant. Nationally, Cheryl was a founding member of the Advocates in Science (AIS) program. She currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Engagement and Communications Committee of the Susan G. Komen’s AIS program and Vice-Chair of the AIS Steering Committee. She served as a Komen Scholar from 2010 to 2018, and April 2019 started a new term. She has been actively involved in Komen’s BD4BC (Big Data for Breast Cancer) initiative, including the development of their advocate training program (BD4P), inaugural breast cancer Hackathon, and the ShareForCures breast cancer registry. She also served as a member of Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board from 2012-2018. An active research advocate, Ms. Jernigan is a member of Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center External Advisory Board; Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (Clinical Research Data) Network (PCORnet) Engagement Core Leadership Team, Engagement Committee, and Front Door Workstream Team; and the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative’s Steering Committee. She serves as an Advocate Member on the Cancer Prevention & Epidemiology Committee and as a member on the Patient Advocate Committee of SWOG for Cancer Research, which is part of the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trials Network. Cheryl is a past member of NCI’s Central Institutional Review Board for Late Phase Adult Clinical Trials and Director’s Consumer Liaison Group (DCLG) and has served as an advocate reviewer for Komen’s Research Program, the V Foundation, the U.S. Congressionally-Directed Breast Cancer Research Program, and the LiveStrong Foundation.

Komen Scholar Since 2022

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Allison W. Kurian, M.D., M.Sc., is a Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford University School of Medicine; Co-Leader of the Population Sciences Program and Co-Director of the Data Science Core at Stanford Cancer Institute; Director of the Stanford Women’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program; and Associate Chief of the Stanford Division of Oncology. Dr. Kurian is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Kurian’s research focuses on the identification of women with elevated breast and gynecologic cancer risk, and on the development and evaluation of novel techniques for early cancer detection and risk reduction. As an oncologist and epidemiologist, she aims to understand cancer burden and improve cancer treatment quality at the population level. Her research employs methods from the population sciences, in collaboration with the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program and other large, real-world data resources. Dr. Kurian leads epidemiologic studies of cancer risk factors, clinical trials of novel approaches to cancer risk reduction, and decision analyses of strategies to improve cancer outcomes. Dr. Kurian’s Komen-funded research is focused on spatial molecular imaging of tumors and cell-free DNA analysis of plasma to understand differences in the tumor immune response and microenvironment that contribute to disparities in breast cancer mortality.

Komen Scholar Since 2026

Advocates in Science since 2019

Wilmington, DE

Jamie LaScala was diagnosed with Stage III inflammatory breast cancer in 2015, which started her on the path of becoming a patient advocate partner supporting breast cancer research and clinical trials. Jamie serves as a patient advocate on the breast committee for Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) Cancer Network and the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC), representing The University of Pennsylvania, where she is also a board member for the Translational Center of Excellence in Breast Cancer at Penn Medicine. Jamie served as an advocate reviewer for Susan G. Komen, a consumer reviewer for the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) and was part of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative. She has contributed to articles, including for Today.com, provided a patient perspective at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting and served as a patient advocate panelist at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS). Jamie was also recognized with the 2024 Donna Noce Colaco Going Beyond Award from Living Beyond Breast Cancer. In her professional career, Jamie is an analyst at Nemours Children’s Health and a former executive in investment management. She has a BS from Thomas Jefferson University, having spent a semester at the University of Salamanca in Spain.

Komen Scholar Since 2022

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, MA

Nancy Lin, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Chief of Breast Oncology and Director of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). She is co-PI of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center NCI Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE). Dr. Lin has led multiple clinical trials testing novel therapies for patients with metastatic breast cancer, with a particular focus on those with cancer that has spread to the brain (brain metastases). She has led national efforts to increase the inclusion of patients with brain metastases in clinical trials. Dr. Lin has been involved in the development of several drugs which have become standard of care for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, including those with active brain metastases. Dr. Lin also leads the EMBRACE (Ending Metastatic Breast Cancer for Everyone) clinical and research programs at DFCI. The EMBRACE research study, which has enrolled nearly 3,000 individuals, enables multiple research aims, including genetic profiling of biospecimens from patients with metastatic breast cancer at diagnosis and at progression on each line of therapy in order to uncover mechanisms of treatment resistance, characterize patterns of care and outcomes, and understand patient-reported outcomes in the advanced disease setting. Dr. Lin’s Komen-funded research is focused on developing effective clinical strategies utilizing antibody-drug conjugates and identifying resistance mechanisms and novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of central nervous system metastases from breast cancer.

Komen Scholar Since 2026

Advocates in Science since 2019

Sandy, UT

Carla Lloyd became involved in research advocacy as a way to give back to the medical team that supported her through Stage III HER2-positive breast cancer. She is a professor emerita from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University where she served for 32 years. Two-thirds of her career was spent as an administrator, including a director, department chair and inaugural associate dean of creative & scholarly activity, developing innovative programs. She earned many teaching awards and served as chair of the national Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism & Mass Communication. Carla is co-founder and chair of the Breast & Gynecologic Cancers Research Advocate (BGCRA) Committee at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI). It is the first and currently only research-advocate group to serve one of HCI’s disease centers, but has inspired an institute-wide model. She leads the BGCRA Committee, a volunteer group of 18 patients and survivors of breast, ovarian, endometrial, and cervical cancers, who serve as research-specific advocates to support HCI’s Breast and Gynecologic Cancers Center. The committee works with researchers in a variety of ways to help advance the care, treatment, and outcomes of breast and gynecologic cancers patients. The committee also hosts the annual Project Next Symposium, leads a “Thank You, Researcher” campaign during cancer awareness months, and has completed its own “Best Practices in Clinical Trial Patient Recruitment” research study. Dr. Lloyd is a National Breast Cancer Coalition Project LEAD-trained research advocate. She is also the patient-advocate member on the Utah Cancer Registry Oversight Committee. She is an external advisory board member of the Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence ALIVE WELL initiative. Carla is also a member of the HCI’s external advisory board. As a Komen Advocates in Science member, she has participated in the Big Data for Breast Cancer (BD4BC) initiative by participating in the BD4BC pilot training program, reviewing BD4BC online curriculum modules, reviewing Hackathon grant applications, editing/reviewing content for the Risk Factor section on Komen.org, and serving as a patient advocate mentor on a Komen Career Catalyst Research (CCR) grant and patient advocate on a Komen A Supplement to Promote Inclusion for Research Excellence (ASPIRE) grant. Carla received her BA degree in Communications from the University of Utah, MS from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and her PhD in sociology from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Komen Scholar Since 2022

Washington University in St. Louis, MO

St. Louis, MO

Cynthia X. Ma, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Medicine, Attending Physician in Oncology, Clinical Director of the Breast Cancer Program in the Section of Medical Oncology, Division of Oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, and Co-leader of the Breast Cancer Focus Group at the Siteman Cancer Center. Dr. Ma’s research focus is in the area of breast cancer biomarkers and targeted therapeutics development. Dr. Ma has conducted a number of early phase trials of novel drugs that target cell cycle, DNA damage repair, and growth factor receptor signaling pathways in patients with resistant breast cancer. She is the study chair for the phase III neoadjuvant/adjuvant trial A011106 (ALTERNATE trial) to validate biomarkers of sensitivity to endocrine therapy for personalized treatment decisions, to develop better endocrine therapy drugs, and to understand drivers of endocrine therapy resistance in patients with early stage estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. In addition, her laboratory has expertise evaluating novel treatment approaches and biomarkers in preclinical models, including patient-derived xenografts. Dr. Ma’s Komen-funded research is focused on genomic analysis of specimens obtained from the ALTERNATE trial in the context of patient outcomes by determining the differences in genomic features of ER+ and HER2- breast cancers to develop unique biomarkers that define endocrine therapy resistance mechanisms as personalized therapeutic targets.

Komen Scholar Since 2018

Duke University

Durham, NC

Donald P. McDonnell, Ph.D., is the Glaxo-Wellcome Professor of Molecular Cancer Biology in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine. In addition, he serves as Assistant Director of Translational Research within the Duke Cancer Institute. With a career spanning industry and academia, Dr. McDonnell’s research has focused on defining the mechanisms by which estrogens, working through their cognate receptors, impact the pathobiology of breast cancer and the exploitation of this information to develop new endocrine therapies. His group discovered a new class of medicines, oral Selective Estrogen Receptor Downregulators (SERDs), several of which are currently in clinical trials. Notable was his group’s discovery of Elacestrant (FDA approved January 2023, EMEA September 2023) and Lasofoxifene (Phase III ELAINE) as treatments for metastatic breast cancer. Additionally, his group has defined the biochemical links between hypercholesterolemia/dyslipidemia and breast cancer pathobiology and has demonstrated how dyslipidemia increases the metastatic capacity of breast cancer cells. Dr. McDonnell’s Komen-funded research is focused on identifying and exploiting targets for drug discovery of a newly identified signaling pathway that promotes metastasis through several mechanisms in all breast cancer subtypes.

Komen Scholar Since 2022

Advocates in Science Since 2019

Helena, MT

Michelle McGree is a 14-year, two-time breast cancer survivor and advocate, diagnosed at age 28. She lives in Helena, Montana and is a fish habitat biologist with a M.S. degree in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. She is passionate about research advocacy and helping to make scientific studies impactful to breast cancer patients. She also enjoys helping others through breast cancer diagnoses, treatments, and the new normal. Michelle has been a consumer reviewer and mentor for the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program since 2014. She is also an alumnus of the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Young Advocate Program, a member of Komen’s Advocates in Science (AIS) Program since 2019, and is the Chair for Komen’s AIS Steering Committee. She enjoys participating in scientific breast cancer meetings and has shared her experiences and perspective through blogs and podcasting. Michelle is also passionate about the role of fitness in the risk of breast cancer and recurrence and has fundraised for cancer research and support of young breast cancer survivors by biking many miles in the Fred Hutch Obliteride and the Young Survival Coalition Tour de Pink. Michelle started working with Susan G. Komen as a race for the cure volunteer, organizer, honorary survivor and continues to participate in various Komen initiatives.

Komen Scholar Since 2020

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Nashville, TN

Tuya Pal, M.D., is a Professor of Medicine and an Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she is also the Associate Director for Cancer Health Disparities at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. She is also the Vice Chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Genetics/Familial Breast, Ovarian and Pancreatic Cancer Guidelines Panel and the Editor-in-Chief for the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Genetics PDQ Editorial Board. Dr. Pal’s research is focused on identification of genetic risk factors which raise cancer risk, and strategies to reduce this risk, including efforts among underserved populations. Her research spans basic and clinical science, including health services delivery and implementation science. She has conducted studies to better understand genetic and non‐genetic factors associated with the etiology and outcomes of breast cancer among young Black women, including the molecular characterization of triple negative breast cancers. Through this work, she identified cancer education and engagement needs among Black women, which led to efforts focused on raising awareness about inherited breast cancer in this population. She created the Inherited Cancer Registry (ICARE) Initiative over a decade ago, which is amongst the largest research registries focused on inherited cancers in the country. Through these efforts, she has partnered with providers across the United States and beyond to grow the registry and conduct translational studies, while providing opportunities for education and engagement for patients and providers. She has led observational studies to understand the delivery of hereditary breast cancer services across diverse populations and healthcare settings, to inform development of interventional studies currently underway. These include alternative delivery models to scale up care for individuals at‐risk for inherited cancer; and test interventions to improve follow‐up care for those with inherited cancer across diverse populations, and healthcare settings. Her clinical activities focus on hereditary cancer risk evaluation. Dr. Pal’s Komen-funded research is focused on understanding how genetic testing for inherited mutations in breast cancer genes can potentially reduce disparities in breast cancer outcomes across a diverse population, including Black women with breast cancer.

Komen Scholar Since 2018

Boston University

Boston, MA

Julie R. Palmer, Sc.D., M.P.H., is the Karin Grunebaum Professor in Cancer Research at Boston University School of Medicine and Director of the Slone Epidemiology Center. Dr. Palmer is also Co-Director of the BU-BMC Cancer Center. Her research interests focus on racial disparities in incidence of hormone receptor-negative breast cancer and in breast cancer mortality. Dr. Palmer is a founding leader and current principal investigator of the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), a prospective cohort study of 59,000 U.S. Black women who have been followed since 1995. Her breast research within the BWHS includes development and validation of a risk prediction model for breast cancer in Black women based on factors that can be assessed by a primary care provider. In subsequent work, she has shown that adding a polygenic risk score, developed in data from women of African ancestry, increases the discriminatory accuracy of the model. Other genetics research includes the first large-scale study of germline mutations in breast cancer genes among women of African ancestry. Dr. Palmer was awarded the Komen-funded AACR Distinguished Lecture on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in 2017. Dr. Palmer’s Komen-funded research is focused on understanding the impact of chronic psychosocial distress on breast cancer outcomes and how these factors alter systemic inflammation and contribute to health disparities experienced by Black women.

Komen Scholar Since 2025

Advocates in Science Since 2025

Ithaca, NY

Bob Riter became active as an advocate shortly after his initial diagnosis with breast cancer in 1996. For many years, he served as the executive director of the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes, a cancer support organization in Ithaca, NY. He especially enjoys working with researchers-in-training at Cornell University, getting them out of their labs to connect them with cancer survivors and patients. Bob has been involved with a variety of cancer advocacy organizations including the NCI Council of Research Advocates, the Alamo Advocate Program, Advocates for Collaborative Education, and Komen Advocates in Science. He’s served as an advocate reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Breast Cancer Research Program and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. In addition to breast cancer, Bob had also been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was found to have a CHEK2 mutation. He has a special interest in hereditary cancers and in fostering connections between advocates across all types of cancer. He’s a native of Huntington, WV and attended Oberlin College and the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.

Komen Scholar Since 2020

Weill Cornell Medicine

New York City, NY

Rulla M. Tamimi, Sc.D., is a Professor of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Tamimi is also Division Chief of Epidemiology and Associate Director for Population Science at the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center. Dr. Tamimi’s research focus is on intermediate markers of breast cancer risk using epidemiologic resources and data sets like the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII). Her research is focused on understanding how lifestyle, genetic, and molecular factors impact mammographic features and histopathologic characteristics of breast tissue. Dr. Tamimi has also examined benign breast disease and the heterogeneity of breast cancer. Her studies have looked at early proliferative changes in the breast, and how morphologic and molecular changes are related to subsequent risk of breast cancer. Better molecular classification of breast tumors may provide important clues about the biology and underlying mechanisms of breast carcinogenesis lifestyle factors, and how genetic and plasma markers influence the molecular characteristics of the breast tumor. Dr. Tamimi hopes to incorporate the full spectrum of resources including genetic variation, early life exposures, circulating markers, tissue markers, and intermediate endpoints to fully develop and address hypotheses about breast cancer risk. Dr. Tamimi’s Komen-funded research is focused on understanding the impact of different weight management strategies on intermediate markers of breast cancer risk as potential interventions to improve breast cancer outcomes.

Komen Scholar Since 2022

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Boston, MA

Sara Tolaney, M.D., M.P.H., is the Chief of the Division of Breast Oncology at Dana- Farber Cancer Institute and is internationally recognized for her research in breast cancer. She also serves as Associate Director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers and is a Senior Physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on the development of novel therapies in the treatment of breast cancer and developing more effective and less toxic treatment approaches. Her work has demonstrated that a relatively low risk regimen, paclitaxel and trastuzumab, is beneficial in women with early-stage node-negative HER2-positive cancers, and this work has been incorporated into national and international guidelines. She has developed several follow-up studies looking at novel approaches to early stage HER2-positive disease, including use of T-DM1 in this setting, and has also played a significant role in development of CDK 4/6 inhibitors, antibody drug conjugates, and immunotherapy in breast cancer. She currently chairs several registration studies in these areas and also leads many investigator-initiated trials. Dr. Tolaney’s Komen-funded research is focused on developing combination therapies for metastatic breast cancer subtypes that normally do not benefit from immunotherapy by determining the impact of including a novel antibody drug conjugate to enhance the immune response.

Komen Scholar Since 2020

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC

Melissa Troester, Ph.D., is a Professor of Epidemiology and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, co-leader of the Cancer Epidemiology program in Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Director of the UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility. The Troester laboratory focuses on integrative molecular epidemiology, bringing together molecular and social epidemiology of breast cancer and cancer disparities. As Principal Investigator of the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, a health equity-focused research study of breast cancer emphasizing Black and younger women in North Carolina, Dr. Troester has worked to integrate molecular data with detailed information on social determinants of health and access to care. A hallmark of recent projects is data integration, specifically integration of pathology, molecular, and epidemiologic methods to develop a more complete picture of health equity and identify interventions. Complementary to her work on health equity for breast cancer survivors, Dr. Troester is interested in prevention and early detection. She is leading molecular analysis for ECOG-ACRIN’s Tomosynthesis Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST), a clinical trial of 2D vs. 3D mammographic screening. She has led data integration projects in various consortia, including the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk (AMBER) consortium of breast cancer disparities, Breast Cancer Association Consortium, and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. Current work is extending health equity research on treatment delay, health care access, and molecular epidemiology of breast cancer to consider social and geographic variables. Dr. Troester’s Komen-funded research is focused on utilizing tumor samples from the CBCS to evaluate how the genetic and immune composition of tumors changes in different regions of each sample to determine how these spatial variations contribute to racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes between Black and white women.

Komen Scholar Since 2018

Advocates in Science Since 2013

Landenberg, PA

Meryl Weinreb, M.A. is a retired pharmaceutical marketing executive with extensive experience in oncology – both from an industry and personal perspective. As a 3-time breast cancer survivor, she was uniquely equipped to successfully lead consumer marketing strategy and execution for AstraZeneca’s US oncology portfolio. She was responsible for a number of awarding-winning patient education and support programs for breast, prostate and lung cancer therapies. She led innovative adherence programs and worked with company researchers to create patient-friendly PI’s and clinical protocols. Ms. Weinreb served on the Executive Board of the Philadelphia affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation for 7 years. She then continued to serve as the affiliate’s Education and Public Policy Chair. She is currently a Komen Advocacy Ambassador, working to increase government funding for breast cancer research and enacting legislation that will remove barriers to care. In 2013, she was invited to join Komen’s Advocates in Science Program, and in 2018 became a member of its Steering Committee and a Komen Scholar. She is the previous Chair of the AIS Steering Committee and Chair of the Advocate Peer Review Committee. She has served as a consumer reviewer for the Department of Defense’s Breast Cancer Research Program, Komen’s Postdoctoral Fellowship and Career Catalyst awards, and The Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. She assists researchers – locally, across the country and sometimes abroad – with their grant applications and currently is collaborating as an advocate on several breast cancer research projects.