CARE includes nine major academic and research institutions across the United States. Investigators at these institutions are committed to advancing cancer research through collaborative translational and clinical initiatives.
INVESTIGATORS
Jenny Chang, MD
Dr. Chang is the director of Houston Methodist Cancer Center and Emily Herrmann Chair in Cancer Research at Houston Methodist. Her work has focused on the intrinsic therapy resistance of cancer stem cells, which has led to several publications and international presentations. Dr. Chang’s clinical research aims to evaluate novel biologic agents in breast cancer patients. She is a world-renown clinical investigator, credited as one of the first to describe intrinsic chemo-resistance of tumor-initiating cells.
Polly Niravath, MD
Dr. Niravath is a breast oncologist for the Houston Methodist Cancer Center and spearheads the survivorship clinic. Her goal is to offer comprehensive care to patients, from diagnosis and treatment to long-term survivorship care. Her primary interests are breast cancer, symptom management, and aromatase inhibitor side effects. Dr. Niravath’s research focuses on minimizing treatment-related side effects for breast cancer patients.
Maysa Abu-Khalaf, MD
Dr. Abu-Khalaf is an associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University and the director of the Breast Medical Oncology Program and co-director of the Breast Care Center at Jefferson Health. Her research and clinical interests include early stage breast cancers, metastatic breast cancers, inflammatory breast cancers, and breast cancers in men.
Eleni Andreopoulou, MD
Dr. Andreopoulou is an associate professor of clinical medicine specializing in the care and treatment of patients with breast cancer. In addition to her active clinical practice, she is passionate about biomarker-driven clinical trials, pharmacogenomic predictors of chemoresistance, chemosensitivity, and endocrine sensitivity for early and advanced stage breast cancer. She established a prospective bio-repository in breast cancer providing a crucial foundation for precision medicine research. She assembled a multidisciplinary team, and in collaboration with scientists, used the bio specimens to probe the issue of drug resistance and its relationship to chemotherapy-mediated dormancy.
Adam Cohen, MD
Dr. Cohen is a researcher and physician at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), specializing in neuro-oncology and breast oncology. He is also an assistant professor in the departments of Internal Medicine (Division of Oncology) and Neurosurgery at the University of Utah. Studying brain and women’s cancers, his research focuses on clinical trials and pharmacogenomics that provide patients with personalized treatments. He co-chairs the HCI Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee, which reviews cancer-related research projects for scientific merit and progress in compliance with NCI guidelines.
Massimo Cristofanilli, MD
Dr. Cristofanilli is the associate director for translational research at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center and a professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. An expert in the translational research and treatment of patients with inflammatory breast cancer, Dr. Cristofanilli has led the development of novel diagnostic and prognostic markers in primary and metastatic breast cancer. His research is focused on advancing a patient-centered, biology-driven model of cancer care, combining sophisticated tissue and blood-based molecular diagnostic technologies and innovative treatments.
Virginia Kaklamani, MD
Dr. Kaklamani is a professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at UT Health San Antonio and leads the Breast Cancer Program at the Cancer Center. Her research interests include studying high-risk families and identifying genetic mutations that are associated with an increased risk for breast, colon and prostate cancer. She has identified several genetic mutations related to obesity that increase the risk of breast cancer. Dr. Kaklamani is a clinical investigator with expertise in designing clinical trials with targeted agents.
Reshma Mahtani, MD
Dr. Mahtani is an assistant professor of clinical medicine for the division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Miami Miller School Of Medicine. Dr. Mahtani served as Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s principal investigator on several phase II and III breast clinical trials. Her clinical interests include breast and GYN malignancies. She has authored numerous manuscripts related to breast, GYN, gastrointestinal cancer, and lung cancer.
Ingrid Mayer, MD
Dr. Mayer is the co-leader and clinical director of the Breast Cancer Research Program and associate professor of medicine (hematology/oncology) at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Her research endeavors have been focused on the identification of targetable pathways in breast cancer; ErbB signaling and endocrine therapy resistance in estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancers; PI3K signaling and endocrine therapy resistance in ER+ breast cancers; chemotherapy resistance in triple negative breast cancers; and biomarker prediction of treatment response in human breast cancers.
Jane Meisel, MD
Dr. Meisel is an assistant professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. She is a medical oncologist with a special interest in women’s health and in cancers that affect women, including breast, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. She serves as the principal investigator for many therapeutic trials for patients with breast and gynecologic malignancies at Winship Cancer Institute.
Theresa Werner, MD
Dr. Werner is an associate professor in the Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, at the University Of Utah School Of Medicine, an investigator at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Program. She is a specialist in adult hematology and medical oncology, and her main areas of interest include breast cancer and gynecologic malignancies. She is heavily involved in clinical and translational research and is active in the experimental therapeutics and phase one clinical trial program.
