Janet Davison Rowley was an American human geneticist and the first scientist to identify a chromosomal translocation as the cause of leukemia and other cancers, thus proving that cancer is a genetic disease. Rowley spent the majority of her life working in Chicago and received many awards and honors throughout her life, recognizing her achievements and contributions in the area of genetics.
Mary-Claire King is an American geneticist. She was the first to show that breast cancer can be inherited due to mutations in the gene she called BRCA1. She studies human genetics and is particularly interested in genetic heterogeneity and complex traits. She studies the interaction of genetics and environmental influences and their effects on human conditions such as breast and ovarian cancer, inherited deafness, schizophrenia, HIV, systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. She has been the American Cancer Society Professor of the Department of Genome Sciences and of Medical Genetics in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington since 1995.
Richard G. Pestell is an Australian American oncologist, endocrinologist and research scientist. Pestell was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to medicine and medical education in 2019 by Queen Elizabeth II. He was previously Executive Vice President of Thomas Jefferson University and Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson University. As a serial entrepreneur he founded six biotechnology companies developing cancer therapy and diagnostics. He is currently Distinguished Professor, Translational Medical Research, and the President of the Pennsylvania Cancer and Regenerative Medicine Research Center at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute.
Jane Cooke Wright was a pioneering cancer researcher and surgeon noted for her contributions to chemotherapy. In particular, Wright is credited with developing the technique of using human tissue culture rather than laboratory mice to test the effects of potential drugs on cancer cells. She also pioneered the use of the drug methotrexate to treat breast cancer and skin cancer.
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute is a cancer research and provider network headquartered in Detroit, Michigan affiliated with the Wayne State University School of Medicine. The Karmanos Cancer Institute has 16 treatment locations and is one of 57 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer treatment and research centers in the United States.
Naoto T Ueno is a Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; his research is in the area of inflammatory breast cancer and the molecular mechanism of metastasis and tumorigenicity. Ueno is also affiliated with the Keio University as a visiting professor.
Kenneth Offit is an American cancer geneticist and oncologist known for his discoveries with respect to the genetic bases of breast, colorectal, and lymphoid cancers. He is currently Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service and the Robert and Kate Niehaus Chair in Inherited Cancer Genomics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Offit is also a member of the Program in Cancer Biology and Genetics at the Sloan-Kettering Institute and Professor of Medicine and Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medical College. He was previously a member of both the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute and the Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention working group of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Henry Thompson Lynch was an American physician noted for his discovery of familial susceptibility to certain kinds of cancer and his research into genetic links to cancer.
Adeyinka Gladys Falusi, FAS NPOM, is a Nigerian Professor of haematology and former Director of the Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
Charis Eng is a Singapore-born physician-scientist and geneticist at the Cleveland Clinic, notable for identifying the PTEN gene. She is the Chairwoman and founding Director of the Genomic Medicine Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, founding Director and attending clinical cancer geneticist of the institute’s clinical component, the Center for Personalized Genetic Healthcare, and Professor and Vice Chairwoman of the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Judy Ellen Garber is the director of the Center for Cancer Genetics and Prevention at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Garber previously served as president of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Nola M. Hylton is an American oncologist who is Professor of Radiology and Director of the Breast Imaging Research Group at the University of California, San Francisco. She pioneered the usage of magnetic resonance imaging for the detection, diagnosis, and staging of breast cancer by using MRIs to locate tumors and characterize the surrounding tissue.
Dayo Olopade is a Nigerian-American writer and lawyer and the author of The Bright Continent: Breaking Rules and Making Change in Modern Africa.
Kornelia Polyak is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an internationally recognized breast cancer expert.
Melissa Andrea Simon is an American clinical obstetrician/gynecologist and scientist who focuses on health equity across the lifespan. Simon is founder and director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET) in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, and founder of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative, a National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer partnership led by the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Northeastern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the George H. Gardner, MD Professor of Clinical Gynecology, the Vice-Chair of Clinical Research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, tenured professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Preventive Medicine and Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Edith Peterson Mitchell (1947-2024) was a retired Brigadier general of the United States Air Force and an oncologist. She was clinical professor of medicine and medical oncology at Thomas Jefferson University. In 2015, she became the president of the National Medical Association.
Allison Walsh Kurian is an American medical oncologist. She is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Population Health at Stanford University and an oncologist at the Stanford Cancer Institute.
Lori Jo Pierce is an American radiation oncologist and 57th President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She is a Full Professor and Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the use of radiotherapy in the multi-modality treatment of breast cancer, with emphasis on intensity modulated radiotherapy in node positive breast cancer, the use of radiosensitizing agents, and the outcomes of women treated with radiation for breast cancer who are carriers of a BRCA1/2 breast cancer susceptibility gene.
Stephanie Lynn Schutt Graff is an American breast medical oncologist. She is the Director of Breast Oncology at the Lifespan Cancer Institute and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Alpert Medical School. Previously she was the Director of both the Breast Program and Clinical Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute at HCA Midwest Health at Sarah Cannon Research Institute and Associate Director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at Sarah Cannon Research Institute.
Adebowale A. Adeyemo is a Nigerian physician-scientist and genetic epidemiologist specialized in genomics and cardiometabolic disorders. He is the deputy director and chief scientific officer of the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health at the National Human Genome Research Institute.
