Committee and Staff Biographies
Jerome F. Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D. (Chair), is the dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine, professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and executive vice president for Medical Affairs of the VCU Health System. His research interests are in the field of reproductive medicine focusing on the genetics of disorders affecting fertility and pregnancy outcome. He has authored more than 300 original scientific articles, and holds 12 issued U.S. patents for discoveries in diagnostics and therapeutics. Dr. Strauss’s honors include election to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (1971); the University of Pennsylvania’s Berwick Award for Teaching (1983); the Medical Student Government Award for Distinguished Teaching from the University of Pennsylvania (1983); the President’s Achievement Award (1990) and the Distinguished Scientist Award (2006) from the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, of which he is past president (2004); the Society for the Study of Reproduction Research Award (1992); election to the National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (1994); the Transatlantic Medal of the British Endocrine Society (1994); the Beacon (2001), Pioneer (2004), and National Research Distinguished Service Awards (2007) for contributions to the reproductive sciences; the 2005 Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the highest honor that the School of Medicine bestows upon an alumnus; Chuenkong Scholar from the China Ministry of Education (2006); the Rector’s Medal from the University of Chile (2009) for contributions to research and research training; and honorary professor at Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China (2013). Currently, Dr. Strauss is chair, Board of
Scientific Counselors, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Ronald D. Alvarez, M.D., M.B.A., is professor and Ellen Gregg Shook Culverhouse Chair of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). His long-term research interests have included the development of novel therapeutics for ovarian cancer and new screening and prevention strategies for cervical cancer. He has been the recipient of several National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other industry-funded grants in support of his research in gene therapeutics for ovarian and cervical cancer, including funded projects in the previously funded UAB Ovarian Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) and the currently funded Johns Hopkins/UAB Cervical SPORE. He has served on study sections for the NCI Clinical Oncology Section and the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Ovarian Cancer Research Program. He currently serves as co-chair of the NRG Oncology Gynecologic Committee and has served on the editorial board of Gynecologic Oncology. He served as president of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology in 2013 and he is currently director of the gynecologic oncology division of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Deborah J. Bowen, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Washington. She was recently a professor and chair in the Department of Community Health Sciences of the School of Public Health at Boston University (BU). She has been the principal investigator of several National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded grants involving breast/ovarian cancer and melanoma risk feedback and communications, including the Breast Cancer Risk Counseling Studies, the RISK study, and the WIRES and Suntalk studies. Dr. Bowen has been an investigator in the coordinating centers of three large multicenter prevention trials: the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), the Women’s Health Trial: Feasibility Study in Minority Populations (WHT:FSMP), and the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). She is currently conducting community-based research to improve the health of native people in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, in collaboration with community partners. She was the director of the Prevention Research Center at BU, focused on improving the health of public housing residents. In addition, Dr. Bowen has led or participated in numerous community intervention studies that have successfully recruited and maintained advisory committees, including members of the community representing the target audience. She was a co-investigator and member of the steering committee for a large R25T training grant for pre- and post-doctoral fellows at the University of Washington, focused on health communications and biobehavioral cancer prevention.
Kathleen R. Cho, M.D., is the Peter A. Ward Professor and vice chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Cho is an actively practicing surgical pathologist with a substantial schedule of consults and in-house cases in diagnostic pathology. She serves as the section head and fellowship director for gynecological pathology at the University of Michigan Hospitals. Dr. Cho received her B.A. from Yale University in 1980 and her medical degree from Vanderbilt University in 1984. She subsequently performed an internship and residency in anatomic pathology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. From 1988 to 1991, she was a clinical fellow in pathology and a research fellow in cancer genetics, both at Johns Hopkins. She joined the Johns Hopkins University faculty in 1991 as an assistant professor of pathology, oncology, and gynecology and obstetrics, and achieved the rank of associate professor in 1995. Widely recognized as a leading authority in both the basic and clinical study of gynecologic malignancies, Dr. Cho is a prolific investigator with more than 130 peer-reviewed publications. Her work has provided critical insight into the molecular pathogenesis of cervical and ovarian cancer. Dr. Cho is a member of the editorial boards of numerous pathology and cancer-related journals. Her expertise in the field is further shared through her participation in many grant application study sections, review committees, and advisory panels at the national level. Dr. Cho’s honors include election to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2000), the Association of American Physicians (2008), and the National Academy of Medicine (2015).
Heidi Donovan, Ph.D., RN, is an associate professor and director, Office of Community Partnerships, in the School of Nursing at the University of Pittsburgh. Her expertise is in symptom assessment and management for women with ovarian cancer. Her research focuses on developing and testing eHealth interventions to improve patient and caregiver outcomes and on identifying critical components of successful patient education programs. She is the co-developer of the Representational Approach (RA) to patient education, an intervention theory designed to promote behavior change to improve self-management of complex health problems. She has had sustained funding to develop and test a Web-based symptom management intervention (WRITE Symptoms) based on the RA with the aim of improving symptoms, patient–health care provider communication, and quality of life among women with recurrent ovarian cancer. As director of the Office of Community Partnerships in the School of Nursing, Dr. Donovan promotes community engagement by faculty, staff, and students in order to address the health needs of vulnerable, underserved communities in the region. In addition, she has served on the Quality of Life and Ancillary Data Committees of the Gynecologic Oncology Group and serves on the Medical
Advisory Board of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. Dr. Donovan has a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Debra Duquette, M.S., CGC, is the genomics coordinator in the Genomics and Genetic Disorders Section of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). She has served as a project manager/director on two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Public Health Genomics cooperative agreements and three CDC Division of Cancer Prevention and Control cooperative agreements with the MDHHS for public health genomics over the past 10 years. Ms. Duquette serves on the Executive Steering Committee for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)-funded ABOUT Network and provides a leadership role to represent public health. She is also the chair of the Lynch Syndrome Screening Network (LSSN), and the co-chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Genomics and Population Health Action Collaborative. Ms. Duquette also serves on the Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) Advisory Board and the eXamining Relevance of Articles for Young Survivors (XRAYS) Steering Committee. She is a board-certified genetic counselor with more than 12 years of clinical experience counseling more than 8,000 Michigan families.
Robert A. Hiatt, M.D., Ph.D., is professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco (USCF), and the associate director for Population Science of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research interests include cancer epidemiology—especially breast cancer, cancer prevention and screening, health services and outcomes research, social determinants of cancer, and environmental exposures in early development related to cancer. His central focus at UCSF is building a strong interdisciplinary research and training program in epidemiology with a focus on cancer population sciences. He is also an adjunct professor, Division of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, and adjunct investigator at the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland. From 1998 to early 2003 he was the first deputy director of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at the National Cancer Institute, where he oversaw cancer research in epidemiology and genetics, surveillance, and health outcomes and the quality of cancer care research. He is a past president of the American College of Epidemiology and the American Society for Preventive Oncology.
Beth Y. Karlan, M.D., is director of the Women’s Cancer Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and the Gilda Radner Hereditary Cancer Pro-
gram, and holds the Board of Governors Chair in gynecologic oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Karlan is also professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research focuses on the genetic definition and phenotypic determinants of human ovarian carcinomas, molecular biomarker discovery for early detection and prognostication, and inherited cancer susceptibility, and she has been prolific with more than 300 research articles published. She is an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor and the editor-in-chief of the journals Gynecologic Oncology and Gynecologic Oncology Reports. In 2012, Dr. Karlan was appointed by the White House to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board, and she has testified before the U.S. Congress in support of increased research funding for ovarian cancer. She has worked tirelessly to advance her specialty on behalf of her patients and has served in many professional leadership positions including president of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, board of directors for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and the Conquer Cancer Foundation, and chair of the scientific advisory board of the Clearity Foundation. Dr. Karlan is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard-Radcliffe College. She earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard–Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Health Sciences and Technology. After finishing her residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Dr. Karlan completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in molecular biology at Yale University School of Medicine and a clinical fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Douglas A. Levine, M.D., is an attending surgeon on the Gynecology Service in the Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he also serves as head of the Gynecology Research Laboratory. His laboratory studies novel biomarkers, precision medicine, and rare tumors. Dr. Levine has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles in addition to several textbooks. He has received the Foundation for Women’s Cancer Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Prize and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Mentor Award, and serves as the assistant dean of the U.S. Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Academy. Dr. Levine is the co-chair of the Ovarian Cancer, Endometrial Cancer, and Uterine Carcinosarcoma Working Groups of The Cancer Genome Atlas. He serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, the Clearity Foundation, and the Board of The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation. Dr. Levine is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College. He earned his medical degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed residency at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. He completed clinical and research fellowships at Memorial Sloan
Kettering Cancer Center and is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology and gynecologic oncology. Dr. Levine has an outstanding level of expertise and leadership in ovarian and endometrial cancer research and a deep commitment to women’s health.
Terry Magnuson, Ph.D., was recruited to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 2000 as founding chair of the Department of Genetics and director of the newly established Carolina Center for Genome Sciences. He also created the Cancer Genetics Program in the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was appointed vice dean for research in the School of Medicine in July 2010. Dr. Magnuson is a founding member of the International Mammalian Genome Society. He has served on the board of directors of the Society for Developmental Biology (2000–2006) and the Genetics Society of America (2004–2006). Currently, he is a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stem cell working group (2009–present) and the NIH Council of Councils (2014–present). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007), became a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2009), and was also elected to the National Academy of Medicine (2012). He is a senior editor for Genetics (2009–present), as well as a member of the board of reviewing editors for Science Signaling (2010–present). The work in the Magnuson laboratory focuses on the role of mammalian genes in unique epigenetic phenomena such as genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, and stem cell pluripotency. The laboratory also studies the tumor suppressor role of the BAF/PBAF chromatin remodeling complexes and has developed a novel genome-wide mutagenesis strategy.
Lisa Meier McShane, Ph.D., is chief of the Biostatistics Branch in the Biometric Research Program in the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where she advises other programs in the NCI on statistical matters relating to development and use of tumor markers for prognosis, therapy selection, and disease monitoring. She holds a Ph.D. in statistics from Cornell University and is a fellow of the American Statistical Association. Dr. McShane’s statistical research interests include biomarker-based clinical trial design, analysis methods for high-dimensional genomic data, multiple comparisons methods, surrogate endpoints, measurement error adjustment methods, laboratory quality control, and biomarker assay analytical performance assessment. Her collaborative cancer research has included gene expression profiling and pathway analysis to predict survival and response to therapy in breast cancer, microRNA profiling of lung cancer, inflammatory and immune profiling of lung cancer, and studies of proliferation markers relevant to breast and colon cancer. She co-led the efforts to develop “Reporting guidelines for tumor marker
prognostic studies (REMARK)” and “Criteria for the use of omics-based predictors in clinical trials.” Dr. McShane is co-author of more than 100 publications in statistical and biomedical journals and a co-author of the book Statistical Design and Analysis of DNA Microarray Investigations. She is a frequent invited speaker at national and international oncology and statistics meetings. Dr. McShane serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Science Translational Medicine and is a member of the editorial board for BioMed Central (BMC) Medicine. She has been a member of numerous American Society of Clinical Oncology panels and committees, including those which developed guidelines for HER2 and hormone receptor testing in breast cancer, EGFR mutation testing in lung cancer, and use of tumor biomarkers in early-stage breast cancer. Dr. McShane has served on a U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Center for Devices and Radiologic Health Molecular and Clinical Genetics Panel and has been a member of the Institute of Medicine Advisory and Consensus Committees on Management of the Air Force Health Study Data and Specimens.
Kunle Odunsi, M.D., Ph.D., is the cancer center deputy director at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), Buffalo, New York. He is also the M. Steven Piver Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology, executive director of the Center for Immunotherapy, and co-leader of the Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy Cancer Center Program at RPCI. He maintains an active, independent laboratory research program that focuses on understanding the mechanisms of immune recognition and tolerance in human ovarian cancer. He is principal investigator of a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in ovarian cancer, and a multimillion dollar grant from New York State Stem Cell Science Program (NYSTEM) to pioneer a novel strategy of re-programing human hematopoietic stem cells to become a life-long supply of antitumor immune cells in ovarian cancer patients. He is the co-chair of the NCI Ovarian Cancer Task Force of the Gynecological Cancer Steering Committee. Dr. Odunsi received his Ph.D. in immunogenetics from the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; and sub-specialty fellowship in gynecologic oncology at RPCI. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Odunsi is licensed by New York State and certified in obstetrics and gynecology by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is also board-certified in the subspecialty of gynecologic oncology. Dr. Odunsi has authored or co-authored more than 250 journal publications and book chapters. He has served on scientific study
sections of the National Institutes of Health/NCI and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Ovarian Cancer Research Program. He serves on the editorial boards of Gynecologic Oncology, BMC Cancer, Cancer Immunology Research, and Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer.
Mary (Dicey) Jackson Scroggins, M.A., is a writer, producer, and founding partner in Pinkie Hugs, LLC (a mother-daughter writing and film production firm specializing in social justice–focused documentaries), and 18-year ovarian cancer survivor and health activist. She co-founded In My Sister’s Care, an organization focused on improving gynecologic cancer awareness and care for medically underserved women and on eliminating health disparities. With longstanding relationships throughout the advocacy and research communities, Ms. Scroggins is a member of the board of directors of the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) Foundation and the NRG Oncology Foundation, and a member of the advisory committee for the “Globe-athon to End Women’s Cancers,” the leadership committee for the MD Anderson Cancer Center’s “Women’s Cancer Moon Shot Program,” the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance’s Research Advocacy Committee, and the NCI’s Cancer Prevention and Control Central Institutional Review Board. She is also chair of the NRG Patient Advocate Committee, the advocate advisory board of a DoD-funded project focused on the characteristics of long-term ovarian cancer survivors, and the Advocates’ Stakeholder Advisory Board of a PCORI-funded program developing a patient-centered aid for treatment decision making, and a co-chair of the Eighth (2015) American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved. Previously, she was a member of the NCI’s Gynecologic Cancers Progress Review Group and Gynecologic Cancer Steering Committee, a co-chair of its Patient Advocate Steering Committee, a member of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance Board of Directors, and a peer reviewer and integration panel member for the DoD Ovarian Cancer Research Program. An eclectic writer with a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, Ms. Scroggins has published essays and articles on topics such as cancer survivorship, health disparities, medical ethics, and fiction on social justice issues. She is also on the editorial board of Cancer Today. Her advocacy work is driven by a commitment to medical and health equity.
Anil K. Sood, M.D., is professor and vice chair for translational research in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology & Reproductive Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is also director of the multidisciplinary Blanton-Davis Ovarian Cancer Research Program and co-director of the Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNA. His research is focused in three main areas: (1) mechanisms of angiogenesis and
metastasis in ovarian cancer, (2) effects of neuroendocrine stress hormones on ovarian cancer growth and progression, and (3) development of new strategies for systemic in vivo siRNA delivery. Dr. Sood has published more than 450 articles and has authored and co-authored several book chapters, and he serves on the editorial board for several journals. He is a deputy editor for Gynecologic Oncology. Dr. Sood has received major recognition for his research accomplishments, including the Hunter Award, the Margaret Greenfield/Carmel Cohen Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Prize, and the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation/Claudia Cohen Research Prize for Outstanding Gynecologic Cancer Researcher. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and an elected fellow of the AAAS.
Shelley S. Tworoger, Ph.D., is an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Harvard Medical School, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). The focus of her research is to enhance ovarian cancer prevention using an integrative and collaborative approach. She heads the ovarian cancer research efforts in the Nurses’ Health Studies (NHS/NHSII), is the principal investigator of the Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium (OC3), and is the director of the BWH/Harvard Cohorts Biorepository. Her work in ovarian cancer falls into three primary areas: (1) identifying new risk factors, (2) evaluating disease heterogeneity, and (3) elucidating early carcinogenic changes. She is co-author of more than 80 publications on the epidemiology of ovarian cancer. Dr. Tworoger received her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Washington in Seattle.
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE STAFF BIOGRAPHIES
Tracy A. (Harris) Lustig, D.P.M., M.P.H., is a senior program officer with the IOM. Dr. Lustig was trained in podiatric medicine and surgery and spent several years in private practice. In 1999, she was awarded an AAAS Congressional Fellowship and spent 1 year working in the office of Ron Wyden of the U.S. Senate. Dr. Lustig joined the IOM in 2004 and her most recent work has focused on the health care workforce and the aging of the U.S. population. She has been the study director for several IOM reports, including Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, Advancing Oral Health in America, and Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations. She has also directed workshops on the allied health workforce, telehealth, assistive technologies, hearing loss, and home health care. She co-directs the Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence. Dr. Lustig has a doctor of podiatric medicine degree from Temple University and a master of public health
degree with a concentration in health policy from The George Washington University.
Mark D. Stewart, Ph.D., is a research associate with the IOM. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During Dr. Stewart’s graduate work, he investigated the role of the tumor microenvironment in cancer progression and metastasis. He was a recipient of several awards, including the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Predoctoral Fellowship from the NCI. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed research and review articles. In addition, he has authored several editorial pieces for ASBMB Today, the newsletter for the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Aside from his work at the IOM, he is actively engaged in developing professional advancement sessions and resources for early career scientists in his role as the chair of the Associate Member Council of the AACR.
Sapana R. Vora, Ph.D., trained as a cancer biologist and has a passion for science, politics, and the myriad ways in which they intersect. Dr. Vora earned her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, where her dissertation delved into inherited risk genetics for acute leukemia. Prior to graduate school, she double majored in biology and English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she volunteered as a laboratory assistant, was involved in a science advocacy group, and interned at GlaxoSmithKline. She was a 2015 Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow and research associate at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In September 2015, Dr. Vora started her AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship working on biosecurity at the U.S. Department of State.
Noa L. Nir is a senior program assistant with the IOM, currently serving on the Board on Health Care Services and the Food and Nutrition Board. Prior to joining the IOM in 2014, Ms. Nir acted as the youth director for Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, graduating magna cum laude in December 2013. Ms. Nir has also held several internships with organizations such as Just Vision, the Embassy of Israel, and the American Task Force on Palestine. Ms. Nir writes and teaches a creative writing workshop to young writers in her spare time, and her poetry has been published in numerous publications. She won the Academy of American Poets’ Prize for a Single Poem in spring 2013.
Sharyl J. Nass, Ph.D., is director of the Board on Health Care Services and director of the National Cancer Policy Forum at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The work of the Board is helping to shape the direction of health care in the United States and abroad. The Board considers the entire health care system in order to ensure the best possible care for all patients. Its activities pertain to the organization, financing, effectiveness, workforce, and delivery of health care. The Cancer Forum examines policy issues pertaining to the entire continuum of cancer research and care. For more than 15 years, Dr. Nass has worked on a broad range of health policy topics that includes the quality of care, clinical trials, oversight of health research, developing biomarkers and omics-based tests to guide patient care, technologies and quality standards for breast imaging, strategies for large-scale biomedical science, and contraceptive research and development. With a Ph.D. in cell and tumor biology from Georgetown University and postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she has published papers on the cell and molecular biology of breast cancer. She also holds a B.S. in genetics and an M.S. in endocrinology and reproductive physiology, both from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In addition, she studied developmental genetics and molecular biology at the Max Planck Institute in Germany under a fellowship from the Heinrich Hertz-Stiftung Foundation. She was the 2007 recipient of the Cecil Award for Excellence in Health Policy Research, the 2010 recipient of a Distinguished Service Award from the Academies, and the 2012 recipient of the IOM staff team achievement award (as the team leader).
