Sibgat Choudhury, Ph.D.
Harvard Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

I was born in Sylhet, a northeastern hilly district town of Bangladesh, located on the eastern deltaic region of South Asia. My fascination for biological science from high school days led me to study Biochemistry at University of Dhaka from where I received Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Masters Degree in Biochemistry. Upon completion of my Masters in 1995, I joined Quality Control Department of a leading pharmaceutical company in Bangladesh to pursue a pharmaceutical career path, where I was quickly promoted to a supervisory position.

To fulfill my long cherished desire to be a researcher in the field of biomedical science, I completed a second Masters degree in Biology (Molecular biology concentration) in 2001 at Long Island University, New York, and later obtained Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree from McGill University in 2007 under the mentorship of Dr. Terry Y.K. Chow. Dr. Chow did some pioneering research in identifying and characterizing endo-exonuclease(s) in DNA repair pathways. My research at McGill elucidated the involvement of TRM2 endo-exonuclease in DNA double strand break repair mechanism. Endo-exonuclease plays a pivotal role in processing DNA double strand breaks that is critical for subsequent repair of the damaged site. Many of the cancer chemotherapeutic agents used in the treatment of cancer exert their effect by inducing DNA double strand breaks in cancer cells. During my Ph.D. studies, I developed keen interest in breast cancer research, which is the leading cause of cancer-associated death in women. I was eager to explore the underlying molecular and genetic mechanism of breast cancer risk and progression.

After finishing my Ph.D., I joined as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Kornelia Polyak at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI)/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Polyak is well known for her innovative research work in the field of breast cancer, specifically in understanding the role of genetic/epigenetic regulation and gene expression changes in breast cancer progression and metastasis. It is well documented that early full term pregnancy decreases lifetime risk of breast cancer. At DFCI, my primary research objective is to investigate the contributory effect of epigenetic alterations in mammary epithelial stem cells induced by early full term pregnancy in decreasing the risk of breast cancer. Successful completion of this project will lead to the identification of molecular markers associated with reduced cancer risk in parous women and enable us to translate it into the prevention of breast cancer.

Besides science, I take active interest in history, politics and sports. I received several scholarships and awards that include University Grant Scholarship at University of Dhaka, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research award and McGill Alma Mater Travel grant award at McGill. My long-term goal is to dedicate myself to find possible ways to combat breast cancer by translating research findings into treatment in our difficult fight to win breast cancer.

Kirsten Fertuck, Ph.D., Medical Oncology
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

I am originally from Toronto, and received my Honours Bachelor of Science with distinction at the University of Toronto, with a focus on environmental toxicology. I began laboratory research nearby at the Hospital for Sick Children the summer after high school, and participated in further research internships there in various departments each summer during my undergraduate degree. As my studies progressed, I became interested in the emerging field of study that examines the potential for certain pollutants to bind to the estrogen receptor and cause either estrogen-mimicking or estrogen-disrupting effects on sensitive cells such as those in the breast and uterus. I decided to devote my graduate studies to this topic, and completed a dual Ph.D. degree at Michigan State University in the Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and the Environmental Toxicology departments, while studying the effect of a particular class of widespread pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) on estrogen signaling.

During this time, other laboratories were making rapid progress in clarifying the details of the complex mechanism by which the estrogen receptor interprets estrogen signals into biological responses. For my postdoctoral work, I joined the laboratory of a leader in the field, Myles Brown at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. His lab has since made further great strides in understanding estrogen receptor biology, using technology newly available since the completion of the human genome project to identify thousands of previously unknown locations at which the estrogen receptor can bind to chromosomes in breast cancer cells. My current research involves studying the significance of some of these binding sites, which often occur in parts of the genome that are far from estrogen-regulated genes and were, therefore, not predicted based on the current understanding of estrogen signaling.

Dana-Farber provides a wonderful setting for this type of research, with numerous resources and learning opportunities that directly benefit young scientists. Moreover, like many people, I have had several family members directly affected by cancer, most recently losing my mother after a brief and very difficult battle in 2006. The opportunity to conduct work at an excellent research institute while sharing a building with cancer patients and being exposed to the research and feedback of highly regarded oncologists results in a very strong and motivating environment in which to conduct these studies.

Hanna Irie, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical and Research Fellow
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical Center Instructor in Medicine and Cell Biology

Growing up in New York City with a father who was a family practitioner who allowed me to spend time with him in his office and the medical library, I knew from a young age that I wanted to become a physician. His frustrations at the limitations of standard therapies and his active encouragement of my scientific curiosity led me to pursue undergraduate pre-medical and molecular biology studies at Harvard University in Boston. During my subsequent training as part of the MD/Ph.D. program at Harvard Medical School, I first became exposed to oncology as a clinical and research specialty. I completed my Ph.D. dissertation in the laboratory of Steven Burakoff, then at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), where I worked side by side with clinical oncologists and research scientists interested in understanding immune cell functions and responses in malignancy.

However, it was not until after completing my MD/Ph.D. studies, and then taking care of patients on the inpatient oncology services at Massachusetts General Hospital as a medical resident that I became committed to oncology as a medical subspecialty. Patients admitted to these services were often at the end of a long road of standard treatments for their cancer and I could think of no greater privilege than participating in their care at such a vulnerable point. They also represented a challenge and constant reminder that better therapies will always be needed.

As a medical oncology clinical fellow at the DFCI and currently as an attending breast medical oncologist at the DFCI, I have helped to care for many breast cancer patients over the past seven years. Although many are long-term survivors and most visits are wellness checks, I have also had patients with unfortunate metastatic recurrences for whom after many rounds of standard therapies and/or protocol regimens; I felt I had little to offer except emotional support and comfort. From all of these experiences, I became particularly interested and focused on understanding how breast cancer cells metastasize and survive in niches outside of the breast. In addition to my clinical responsibilities, I am also conducting post-doctoral research studies in the laboratory of Joan Brugge at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Brugge has pioneered the use of non-standard 3-D culture models and other systems to investigate stage-specific changes in breast epithelial architecture induced by various oncogenes implicated in human breast cancer. My current research interests focus on: 1) understanding the role of insulin-like growth factors in breast tumorigenesis and 2) using high throughput methods to identify candidate genes that critically regulate anchorage-independent survival, a key contributing factor to metastases, with the hope of identifying novel biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

With the funding from the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation, I hope to continue to work toward understanding the mechanisms underlying breast cancer initiation and metastases, and to participate in the translation of this understanding to the development of new clinical protocols that will hopefully increase the number of healthy patient visits.