Breast Center Training Program

The goal of the Breast Center’s Research Program is to provide a training process in translational research. The Breast Cancer training program provides a vehicle for an organized training plan to complement the facilities and training activities already available at Baylor College of Medicine.

Our training program fills a need for an organized training process in translational breast cancer research. This program brings together, in a formal way, researchers from both clinical and more basic areas of interest working toward a common goal of understanding breast cancer etiology. For example, through weekly data review meetings, post-doctoral fellows from each participating laboratory updates the group on their research progress, and at the same time, have an opportunity to obtain a critical assessment of both the clinical and basic science aspects of their work.

This type of synergism between the clinical and basic science academic faculty is critically important in science, and is especially important in understanding such a multifaceted disease as breast cancer.

An internationally recognized breast cancer research program has existed for many years in the group that now constitutes the Breast Center, and this program offers a unique opportunity for post and pre-doctoral fellows interested in starting careers in translational breast cancer research. There are both didactic components, and required conferences forming the foundation of the training program:

The Translational Breast Cancer Research Course is now being offered as an elective in the new Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine (TBMM) graduate program. The Biostatistical Course is being offered as one of the core courses within the TBMM graduate program.

• Scientific Writing and Research Grants Course (Gary C. Chamness, Ph.D.)
• Biostatistics Course (Susan G. Hilsenbeck, Ph.D.)
• Translational Research Course (Suzanne A.W. Fuqua, Ph.D.)
• Career Development Day (Suzanne A.W. Fuqua, Ph.D.)

• Breast Center Research and Development Workshop (Michael Lewis, Ph.D.)
• Journal Club (Rachel Schiff, Ph.D.)
• Breast Disease weekly seminar organized by the Breast Center (Rachel Schiff, Ph.D.) together with Dan Medina, Ph.D. in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology

The following postdoctoral fellows are supported by the Training Grant (Past and Present), Suzanne AW Fuqua, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Matthew H. Herynk, Ph.D., 8/02-6/04
Tracy Vargo, Ph.D., 9/02-9/03
Priya Choudhury, Ph.D., 8/02-7/04
Dong Zhang, Ph.D., 1/03-9/03
Laura Nelson, Ph.D., 8/03-5/04
Robert Dearth, Ph.D., 6/04-6/05
Shrinivas Diggikar, M.D., 8/04-6/05
Hu Wang, Ph.D., 9/04-8/05
Alejandro Contreras, Ph.D., 8/04-5/05
Tiia Thompson, Ph.D., 4/05-4/06
Jay Wang, Ph.D., 7/05-6/07
Stefan Siwko, Ph.D., 7/05-6/07
Heather LaMarca, Ph.D., 7/05-6/06
Lu Chen, 8/05-7/07
Jennifer Selever, 7/06-6/07
Jennifer Davis, 5/09-5/10
Kevin Roarty, 11/08-6/10
Julie Mayer, 9/08-9/09
Jennifer Rodenkey, 10/08-9/09
Yassine Rechoum, 3/10-present