Tag
CA125 and ovarian cancer
Created by: Mike BirrerChemotherapy and ovarian cancer
Created by: Hani GabraOvarian cancer
Created by: Mike BirrerThe American Cancer Society estimates that in 2013, about 22,240 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed and 14,030 women will die of ovarian cancer in the United States.
According to the data, the mortality rates for ovarian cancer have not improved in forty years since the “War on Cancer” was declared. However, other cancers have shown a marked reduction in mortality, due to the availability of early detection tests and improved treatments. Unfortunately, this is not the case with ovarian cancer, which is still the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers.
go to clusterSarah Blagden
Associate professor of experimental cancer therapeutics, Medical Sciences Division, University of OxfordDirectory:
Expertise:
Following medical training and subsequent specialist training in Medical Oncology at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sarah was awarded a CRUK Junior Clinician Scientist PhD fellowship in 1999 at Cambridge University and held a Clinical Fellowship at the Institute of Cancer Research’s Drug Development Unit.
She was appointed as Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant at Imperial College in 2006 and became Director of Imperial’s Early Cancer Trials Unit and established her laboratory studying the dysregulation of mRNA translation in cancer. She has been chief or principal investigator for a number of national and international clinical studies.
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Cesar Castro
Assistant in Medicine, Medicine, Massachusetts General HospitalMy research endeavors seek to bridge advances in novel technologies and therapeutics with current clinical oncology needs.
Prior formal intensive training in biomedical research design at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and at the National Institutes of Health places me in a unique position to translate advances in the lab to the bedside. Moreover, I have broadened my skill set in clinical investigation by completing the Scholars in Clinical Science Program, a two year structured training curriculum that led to a Master of Medical Sciences from Harvard Medical School.
I also completed a clinical fellowship in Oncology through the Dana-Farber / Partners Cancer Care Program.
This breadth of clinical training exposed me to the day to day quandaries across the spectrum of solid and hematological tumors.
As I refine my oncology focus to solid tumors, notably ovarian cancers under the auspices of Prof. Michael J. Birrer and pancreatic tumors, I am poised to ask further challenging clinical questions in need of innovative solutions. Previously, I was involved with nanoparticle MRI imaging research at the National Cancer Institute where I truly first appreciated the meaning of interdisciplinary. I continue the spirit of this approach as an investigator in the MGH Center for Systems Biology led by Prof. Ralph Weissleder.
My objectives are to refine and translate novel molecular imaging and nanosensing tactics into solid tumors. Notably, for ovarian carcinomas these include micro-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance technology and for pancreatic tumors, novel combo PET tracer - therapeutics.
My daily research interactions involve an amalgam of chemists, material scientists, physicists, and clinicians as we continue to strive for interdisciplinary, innovative solutions to tackle biological problems plaguing cancer researchers.
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David Boruta
Director, Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Center at MGHDr. Boruta was born and raised on the shore of Lake Michigan.
He graduated magna cum laude with both his B.S. in Biology and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan.
As a resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the combined Brigham and Women's/Massachusetts General Hospital Residency Program he was elected Administrative Chief Resident. Following completion of fellowship training in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, he was a faculty member at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
In 2008, he returned to Massachusetts General Hospital and is currently Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
His primary clinical and research focus involves development and utilization of minimally invasive surgical techniques in the diagnosis and management of gynecologic cancers.
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Mike Birrer
Vice chancellor and director, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical SciencesDirectory:
Expertise:
Dr Birrer is vice chancellor and director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
Birrer completed his medical degree and doctorate of philosophy in 1982 in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Following a medical internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Birrer entered the Medical Oncology Fellowship program at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. After his fellowship, Birrer was appointed senior investigator (with tenure) and established the molecular mechanism section in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control.
In 2008, Birrer was appointed professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Medicine and assumed the position of director for both Gynecologic Medical Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Gynecologic Oncology Research Program at the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
In 2017, he accepted the position of director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he served as professor of medicine, pathology and OB-GYN.
Recognized nationally and internationally as an expert in gynecologic oncology, Birrer’s primary research interest is in characterizing the genomics of gynecologic cancers to improve the clinical management of these diseases. His clinical interests include ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer and cervical cancer.
Birrer has approximately 400 publications, including peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and review articles. He served as chair and chair emeritus of the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program, chair of the Committee for Experimental Medicine of the Gynecologic Oncology Group, chair of the Translational Science Working Group of the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup, and a member of the Gynecologic Cancer Steering Committee.
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