rDNA Repair Therapies for Ovarian Cancer

A graduate of Harvard College, Alan D’Andrea received his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1983. He completed his residency in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at DFCI and Children’s Hospital, Boston. Dr. D’Andrea also completed a research fellowship at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research at MIT where he cloned the receptor for erythropoietin while working in the laboratory of Harvey Lodish. Dr. D’Andrea joined the staff at DFCI in 1990. His research is focused on the molecular cause of leukemia. He also investigates the pathogenesis of Fanconi anemia, a human genetic disease characterized by bone marrow failure and AML in children.

Dr. D’Andrea is internationally known for his research in the area of DNA damage and DNA repair. He is currently the Fuller-American Cancer Society Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Center for DNA Damage and Repair at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. A recipient of numerous academic awards, Dr. D’Andrea is a former Stohlman Scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and he serves on the LLS Medical and Scientific Advisory Board. He is currently Chairman of the Career Development Selection Committee of the LLS, Chairman of the NIH Molecular and Cellular Hematology Study Section, and a member of the NCI Board of Scientific Counselors for Basic Sciences. Dr. D’Andrea is a Distinguished Clinical Investigator of the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is also the recipient of the 2001 E. Mead Johnson Award, the highest award in Pediatric Research, and the 2012 G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research.

Elizabeth Swisher, MD, graduated cum laude from Yale University and received her medical degree from the University of California at San Diego. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington and a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at Washington University, St Louis. She joined the faculty at the University of Washington in 1999 where she is currently a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology and an adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Genetics. Both her clinical and laboratory work focus on cancer genetics. She is medical director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Her research has been funded by the NIH, the Department of Defense, the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, and other cancer foundations.

Dr. Swisher’s research has primarily focused on understanding the early events of ovarian carcinogenesis and on the development of novel biomarkers of disease and prognosis, with an emphasis on the role of the BRCA-Fanconi anemia pathway. She has been exploring how a better understanding of this pathway can lead to more effective therapies and prevention of ovarian cancers. She is principal investigator on several PARP inhibitor therapeutic trials and leads the translational research for numerous other clinical trials. Her overall goal is to reduce the burden of ovarian cancer by combining broader identification of inherited risk with effective prevention.