Cancer Early Detection Seminar Series - Dr. Victoria Seewaldt, M.D.

Strategies to Identify Aggressive Breast Cancer Biology in Black and Latina Women

Dr. Victoria Seewaldt, M.D.
Ruth Ziegler Professor and Chair, Department of Population Sciences
Associate Director for Population Sciences Research, Comprehensive Cancer Center
City of Hope


Thursday, January 23, 2020
Beckman Center, Munzer Auditorium (B060)
11:00am - 12:00pm Seminar & Discussion
12:00pm - 12:15pm Reception & Light Refreshments

ABSTRACT
Over 90% of breast cancer is cured; yet there remain highly aggressive breast cancers that develop rapidly and are extremely difficult to treat, much less prevent. Examples are triple-negative breast cancer in Black/African American women and luminal B breast cancers in Black/African Americans and Latinas. Breast cancers that rapidly develop between breast imaging are called “interval cancers”. Here we aim to investigate biologically aggressive precancerous breast lesions and their matched invasive breast cancers in women of diverse race and ethnicity. Our team has the unique ability to perform single cell in situ transcriptional profiling in combination with dynamic and spatial genomics/proteomics; this allows us to identify multi-dimensional spatial and temporal relationships that drive the transition from biologically aggressive pre-cancer to interval breast cancer.


ABOUT VICTORIA SEEWALDT
Victoria Seewaldt, M.D., is an accomplished clinician and researcher who's devoted to improving the lives of her patients and the community at large. She has led community outreach education efforts on cancer prevention through personal wellbeing and directed research aimed at finding biomarkers that can be used for early cancer detection, particularly triple-negative breast cancers that are especially resistant to treatment.

At City of Hope, Dr. Seewaldt will direct efforts to provide breast cancer education, free breast cancer screening and treatment, mentorship of young minority scholars, and a forum for community partnered trials. Clinically, Dr. Seewaldt aims to empower women at high breast cancer risk to be full partners in developing wellness strategies to promote personal health.

Dr. Seewaldt received her medical degree from the University of California, Davis, and completed her residency and clinical fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle. She then pursued a medical oncology fellowship with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and then became an assistant professor at Ohio State University. Afterwards, she transferred to Duke University, where she held various clinical, academic and leadership roles in its School of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Center — most recently as a professor, co-leader of the breast and ovarian cancer program and head of the cancer breast prevention program — before joining City of Hope.


Hosted by: Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D.
Sponsored by the Canary Center
Stanford University - School of Medicine