17 Trailblazing Women Researchers Who Changed Breast Cancer Forever

In honor of Women’s History Month, meet some BCRF-supported women researchers who have advanced our understanding of breast cancer and innovated care for patients

Since the Breast Cancer Research Foundation was founded three decades ago, there’s been a 44 percent decline in deaths from breast cancer, and currently, there are more than four million survivors in the U.S. Underpinning this incredible progress are BCRF investigators and their groundbreaking, lifesaving research. Still, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime—making BCRF’s mission more critical than ever.

Women make up less than 30 percent of the world’s researchers. But at BCRF, we’re proud to champion representation, with 54 percent of this year’s supported researchers identifying as female. They’re giants in the field who are improving care and outcomes, breaking down barriers, and working tirelessly to end this disease.

In honor of Women’s History Month, we recognize 17 of BCRF’s 140-plus women investigators past and present, whose contributions have profoundly shaped breast cancer research. Meet all of BCRF’s 260-plus grantees and learn about their achievements here. 

Dr. Mina Bissell pioneered research on how tissue architecture and the cellular microenvironment play a role in cancer. Her studies highlighted the importance of the tumor microenvironment in breast cancer biology and cancer therapeutics—work that continues to be influential in the field.

BCRF Scientific Advisory Board Member Dr. Joan Brugge’s research has yielded important insights into how breast cancer starts and progresses at the most basic cellular level. 

Dr. Christina Curtis has used novel technologies, like artificial intelligence, to redefine the molecular landscape of breast cancer. Her work has led to new predictive biomarkers and advanced our understanding of metastasis and tumor evolution.

Dr. Nancy Davidson published key findings on the role of hormones—particularly estrogen—on breast cancer gene expression and cell growth and guided several important national clinical trials of new breast cancer therapies.

Dr. Angela DeMichele has been instrumental in developing and testing several targeted therapies for breast cancer including palbociclib (Ibrance^©), the first CDK4/6 inhibitor the FDA approved to treat cancer.

Dr. Titia de Lange made important discoveries about telomeres (the tips of chromosomes that protect our DNA) that have furthered our understanding of how cancer cells survive and reproduce.

Dr. Nora Disis was part of the team who discovered that HER2 is a tumor-specific marker in breast cancer. She is currently leading some of the very first trials on breast cancer vaccines.

Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield developed several validated patient-reported outcome measures that are used in international breast cancer clinical trials today to evaluate how treatments affect patients’ quality of life.

BCRF Scientific Director Dr. Judy Garber developed one of the first cancer risk and prevention clinics for patients and families impacted by hereditary breast cancers and is a foremost expert on Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, a rare hereditary disorder that significantly increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer.

Dr. Maria Jasin is a pioneer in DNA repair research whose work is considered a basis for breakthroughs including CRISPR gene editing, which revolutionized cancer research.

Dr. Benita Katzenellenbogen has made important contributions to our understanding of how hormones, like estrogen, behave in breast cancer—research that has contributed to novel anti-hormone therapies and new insights into how therapies like selective estrogen receptor modulators (such as tamoxifen) work.

Dr. Mary-Claire King discovered the location of the BRCA1 gene and, with BCRF support, uncovered its role in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. BRCA1’s discovery completely revolutionized breast cancer prevention and treatment.

Dr. Nancy Lin, whose research is focused on the urgent need for metastatic breast cancer treatments, led groundbreaking clinical trials that have expanded treatment options for people with breast cancer brain metastases.

Dr. Steffi Oesterreich has pioneered groundbreaking research into lobular breast cancer—a prevalent, yet understudied form of the disease. She has demonstrated that lobular breast cancer is biologically distinct and helped initiative the first clinical trial focused on this form.

Dr. Funmi Olopade conducted seminal research that furthered our understanding of BRCA mutations in women of African ancestry. As a globally renowned expert in risk assessment and individualized treatment for the most aggressive forms of breast cancer, Dr. Olopade’s research has advanced early detection, treatment, and prevention of breast cancer in women at a high risk for the disease.

BCRF Scientific Advisory Board Member Dr. Martine Piccart co-founded the Breast International Group (BIG), the world’s largest network of international academic research groups, spanning 70 countries and six continents. Dr. Piccart and BIG spearhead the EU arm of BCRF’s AURORA study focused on metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Laura J. van ‘t Veer, a pioneer in personalized medicine, developed the 70-gene diagnostic test Mammaprint, which helps predict a woman’s risk of recurrence after an early-stage breast cancer diagnosis and can help determine if she’ll benefit from chemotherapy.