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Komen Creates Scientific Advisory Council

University of Pennsylvania Researcher Named to "Ultimate Think Tank" as Part of the Next Step in Breast Cancer Research from Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

The Komen Philadelphia Affiliate congratulates Susan Domchek, MD, Clinical Researcher from the University of Pennsylvania, for being selected to serve on the new Komen for the Cure Scientific Advisory Council, focusing on innovative and the most effective research in breast cancer science. This panel of more than sixty top-ranking scientists, clinicians and advocates were selected and united by Komen to guide the extensive research program of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world's largest breast cancer organization.

The distinguished experts from a wide range of disciplines and seven countries will serve as inaugural members of Komen for the Cure's new Scientific Advisory Council (SAC). They will provide scientific peer review for the breast cancer grants and programs that Komen funds on an annual basis. The Scientific Advisory Council will also provide Komen leadership with guidance on breast cancer education and public policy.  

"The creation of the Scientific Advisory Council demonstrates Komen's ever-growing leadership in the global breast cancer movement, as well as how, locally, our communities in and around Philadelphia are making an impact in the world's fight against breast cancer," said Elaine I. Grobman, Executive Director of the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate. "Through Dr. Domchek's contributions to the Council, as well as the fundraising and awareness raising supporters of the Komen Philadelphia Affiliate do here at home, each day we help empower the future of a world without breast cancer."

Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the largest source of breast cancer research funding outside of the U.S. government, currently funds nearly 760 active research grants around the world, with plans to invest another $55 million into 105 projects in 2010 alone.

"Komen for the Cure's $500 million in research funding over the years has led to treatments that extend survival and improve quality of life for individuals with breast cancer. Moreover, Komen's breast cancer effort has led to a much finer understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of the disease," said Eric Winer, M.D., Susan G. Komen for the Cure's chief scientific advisor and Director of the Breast Oncology Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "This new council is a logical step forward in our evolving approach to breast cancer research.  Our hope, and our plan, is to further reduce breast cancer mortality and incidence in the next decade. We need to make progress in the years ahead, and want to do so much more rapidly than in the past."

The new advisory council will span a wide range of specialties, including clinical research, laboratory research, surgery, pathology, radiation oncology, epidemiology, medical oncology, behavioral sciences, disease prevention, bioinformatics and international health. Four advocates also will sit on the advisory panel.

Among those serving on the SAC is V. Craig Jordan, Ph.D., D.Sc., Scientific Director, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University and also known as the individual who has been most responsible for the widespread use of the drug tamoxifen, a drug that radically changed treatment for breast and other cancers when it was introduced in 1978. "This approach allows experts in all fields to identify and encourage the most promising research and translate the science into treatments and prevention strategies more effectively," Jordan said. "It's an exciting prospect and I can't wait to get to work on it."

The new council builds on a foundation established in 2007 by Winer with Komen for the Cure's eight-member Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). During the past three years, the SAB has focused Komen's program on research that can lead to reductions in breast cancer mortality or incidence in the next decade. The SAB will oversee Komen's SAC as an executive committee.

SAC members based in the U.S. will serve as liaisons in 21 communities while international members will provide the same valuable information to those living in Belgium, Canada, England, Israel, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. They will also participate in professional scientific conferences, think tank meetings and state-of-science reviews.

SAC members will serve as either full or associate council members. Full members are established senior scholars and leaders in the field of breast cancer who have already made significant contributions to the field. Associate members are independent investigators and scientists between five and 12 years from fellowship training who demonstrate significant promise. These individuals are destined to be leaders in the years ahead.

As researchers themselves, SAC members must demonstrate to Komen that they are involved in innovative projects that seek to discover and deliver the cures for breast cancer. Given that they are not eligible to apply for standard Komen grants, SAC members will be provided with the opportunity to receive funding for their academic institutions in amounts ranging from $175,000 to $250,000 on an annual basis for their work. 

SAC members will serve two-year terms, which are also renewable.

"Every person in this field is eager to get the best results for our patients and future generations," said Ann Partridge, M.D., M.P.H., a new associate council member and medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. "This approach, augmented by our own research and our outreach to our communities, helps us better define critical areas for science and clinical research going forward."

Komen is adhering to a longstanding tradition of including breast cancer advocates as active participants in its research process. Four advocates were selected as members of the SAC.  "Komen is an advocacy organization at its core, and it's critical the perspectives of those affected by breast cancer continue to be fully integrated into decisions at every step of our research process," said Cheryl Jernigan, a member of the council from the Greater Kansas Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

Click here for a complete list of Scientific Advisory Council members.

Learn more about the SAC and its membership.