From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— UW-Madison is spotlighting five scientists making strides in breast cancer research, ranging from better screening options to tailored care plans for patients.
The university’s School of Medicine and Public Health yesterday published overviews on these researchers’ work for World Breast Cancer Research Day. Authors wrote the day is “intended to amplify the urgency of preventing disease and finding cures, as well as shine a light on critical research, including studies supported by federal funding.”
The researchers include:
*Dr. Christoph Lee, a professor of radiology and vice chair of research in the Department of Radiology, who’s focused on population-level health factors and creating new cancer screening and early detection tools. One such application is using AI to improve the field of mammography.
“If we can identify ways that artificial intelligence can improve breast cancer screening performance and outcomes, and for which women, we can provide a more precise and personalized screening approach to save more lives,” he said in a statement.
*Amy Trentham-Dietz, a professor of population health sciences with a focus on detecting breast cancer early, preventing the disease and modeling it with computer simulations. Her work aims to inform breast cancer screening policies and practice, as well as understanding other factors such as obesity and environmental exposure.
“I really care about focusing on cancer in women and the injustice of how research historically has not paid attention to women’s issues,” she said. “As a scientist, it became important for me to work on issues that had been ignored.”
*Beth Weaver, a professor of cell and regenerative biology as well as oncology. She’s exploring how radiation and other substances disrupt cell division, as well as how errors in that process affect tumors.
Her work aims to develop biomarkers to predict when a chemotherapy agent called paclitaxel will be effective in treating breast cancer, as well as new methods for overcoming drug resistence.
*Deric Wheeler, a professor of human oncology whose work is focused in part on triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that’s harder to treat. The school’s overview notes his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer while he was pursuing his master’s degree in disease pathology.
“I started to think about what she was facing, and what other people were facing,” Wheeler said. “Then I started to crystallize on researching cancer.”
*Dr. Kari Wisinski, a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care. She holds a leadership position at the UW Carbone Cancer Center, where she’s working on new personalized treatments for certain forms of breast cancer.
Her latest publication presented clinical trial results on combining two targeted cancer drugs to address treatment-resistent advanced triple-negative breast cancer. While this approach proved ineffective, according to the overview, she noted trials like this can offer access to “cutting-edge” experimental treatments.
“I think the biggest misconception about clinical trials is that they’re only there as a last option,” she said.
See more in the release below.
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