Meet the Advisory Breast Cancer Research Council

Katherine McKenzie, Ph.D., Biomedical Research Administrator and External Relations Manager

In order for the CBCRP to fund research that will make an impact on breast cancer, we rely on the advisory Breast Cancer Research Council for guidance. The advisory council makes funding recommendations and plots out future directions for the CBCRP. In 2004 they helped to reshape the way that the CBCRP allocates funding by devising a plan where we set aside 30 percent of the revenue for Program Initiatives investigating the infl uence of lifestyle and the environment on breast cancer, and determining the reasons for the unequal burder of breast cancer.

The advisory council is made up of 16 individuals chosen to represent the people who are affected by breast cancer and
the institutions that can contribute to the solution.

The chair of the advisory council for 2004-2005 is Debra Oto-Kent, M.P.H., a nonprofi t health organization representative, who is the Founder and Executive Director of the Health Education Council, a private, nonprofi t community agency based in Sacramento that conducts health promotion programs for underserved communities. She has devoted her career to planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs for low income, underserved communities.

 

 

Jackie Papkoff, Ph.D., has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and is currently Vice President of Discovery and Therapeutics at diaDexus Inc. Her background is in cancer biology and signal transduction and she has dedicated her career to harnessing cellular and molecular genetic approaches to developing cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.The advocate representatives on the advisory council are committed to improving breast cancer policy and care through activism, public outreach, and enhanced delivery of care. They represent women from throughout California.

 

Vicki Boriack is a board member of WomenCARE (Cancer Advocacy, Resources and Education) in Santa Cruz. She was 39 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 1993. In February of 1995, Ms. Boriack climbed 23,000 foot Mt. Aconcagua as a member of Expedition Inspiration. The Expedition, comprised of 17 breast cancer survivors, was created to raise $2.3 million for breast cancer research and to raise awareness of the disease.

 

 

Janet Howard-Espinoza is a member of the Women of Color Breast Cancer Survivors Support Project, Los Angeles, which provides support in a nurturing environment through community outreach, encouragement, and support. She conducts hundreds of motivational seminars and workshops each year, reaching diverse communities of underserved women. She is a Breast Cancer Educator, and participates in several support groups for breast cancer survivors.

 

 

Kim Pierce is the Executive Administrator of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology and Radiation Oncology at UCLA School of Medicine, and Executive Director of the Academyof Molecular Imaging. She is on the board of the LA Breast Cancer Alliance and is a member of the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Her range of accomplishments include developing long range plans nationally for patients with breast cancer and developing strategies for maintaining high-quality patient care at UCLA.

 

 

Lisa Wanzor is the Associate Director of Breast Cancer Action, a nonprofi t organization whose mission is to carry the voices of people affected by breast cancer to inspire and compel the changes necessary to end the epidemic. Social justice issues have always been Ms. Wanzor’s passion, and she has worked for immigrant rights, economic justice, racial equality, as well as women’s health. She was a participant on the steering committee for the International Summit on Breast Cancer and the Environment held in 2002 and is on the planning consortium for the California Environmental Health Tracking Program.

 

Kathy Walters, J.D., has served as Program Manager and Director of Volunteer Services in The Community Breast Health Project, an information and support organization in Palo Alto for people touched by breast cancer. A breast cancer survivor, she is a member of their writing group whose work was recently published in A Healing Journey, Writing Together through Breast Cancer. She also serves as the advocate member of a medical research team investigating breast cancer cells circulating in the blood, and as an advocate on an NCI steering committee. Industry representation gives the CBCRP insight into how we can best work with commercial partners to move the breast cancer research field forward.

 

Christine White, M.D., is Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs at Biogen Idec. She is a medical oncologist and hematologist who has served as Director, Clinical Oncology Research at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego and prior to that as Medical Director of Oncology Research at Scripps Memorial Hospitals La Jolla and Encinitas where she also cared for cancer patients. In addition to serving on a variety of local, state, and national medical boards, Dr. White serves on numerous medical journal editorial boards. The scientist/clinicians on the advisory council are experts in basic science, imaging technology, epidemiology, and behavioral science.

 

Dorothy Bainton, M.D., is formerly Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs and Professor of Pathology at University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Bainton is a nationally recognized leader in academic pathology. Her research is focused on the structural and functional relationships of hematopoietic cells in bone marrow. She is a member of a number of professional societies, including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science, and has served on the editorial boards of numerous professional publications. She has received many honors and awards during her career, including a ten-year Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health and the Gold-Headed Cane of the American Society of Investigative Pathology.

 

Moon S. Chen, Jr., Ph.D., M.P.H., is professor and Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control (Population Sciences) at University of California Davis Cancer Center in Sacramento, which is the scientific headquarters for the NCI-funded Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness Research and Training (AANCART). AANCART links eight universities and NCI-designated cancer centers from the East Coast (Harvard, Columbia) with those of the South (University of Texas MD Anderson) and the West (University of Washington; University of California, San Francisco; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Hawaii) to reach approximately 50 percent of Asian Americans residing in the US. Dr. Chen is a pre-eminent scholar/researcher in public health issues affecting Asian Americans.

Carol D’Onofrio, Dr.P.H., is professor emerita at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley. She is an active research scientist in breast cancer, prostate cancer, and tobacco-related diseases. Her breast cancer research includes collaborative research with community organizations to improve breast screening access for women with disabilities, and to increase quality-of-life for survi vors, as well as for patients nearing the end-of-life.

 

 

Jim Ford, M.D., is Assistant Professor of Medicine (Oncology Division), Genetics, and Pediatrics (Medical Genetics Division) at Stanford University School of Medicine; Director of the Stanford Program for Applied Cancer Genetics and the Breast Cancer Genet ics Clinic; and Director of Stanford’s Oncology Fellowship Training Program. Dr. Ford is an internationally recognized expert in the fi elds of DNA repair and the genetics of solid tumors. His laboratory and clinical research programs focus on the genetics and genomics of familial breast and GI cancers, and the use of new technologies for cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.

 

Amy Kyle, Ph.D., M.P.H., is a research scientist and lecturer in the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health. Her research encompasses the use of environmental health indicators; policy for risk assessment; management of persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances. She works with community groups, non-government organizations, and government agencies on a variety of environmental health policy problems and issues.

 

 

The medical specialist representative on the advisory council is Michael Figueroa, M.D. He is the founder of Cancer Care Consultants, Director of the Mercy Regional Cancer Center, and Chairman of the Cancer Committee, the Medical Ethics Committee, and the Ida C. Emmerson Endowment Board. In 2001 he was instrumental in creating the new Morgan Family Cancer Resource Center. Dr. Figueroa is especially interested in stem cell research, carcinoma of the breast, hematologic malignancies, and gene therapy. He encourages his patients to fi ght, and to live each day to the fullest.

 

Our second nonprofi t health organization representative is John W. Morgan, Dr.P.H., a Professor of Epidemi-ology and Biostatistics at Loma Linda University and the Cancer Epidemiologist for Region 5 of the California Cancer Registry. Dr. Morgan is a member of the Board of professional/Scientific Advisors for the American Council on Science and Health and as well as the board of directors for the California Division of the American Cancer Society. His interests include epidemiologic research that identifies control and prevention strategies for cancer.

 

Georjean Stoodt, M.D., M.P.H., is the ex-officio representative from the Department of Health Services and heads Cancer Detection Program— Every Woman Counts, which is a sister program to the CBCRP. Dr. Stoodt has worked in a variety of human service, public health, and medical settings throughout her public service career. At local, state, and national levels, she has been instrumental in shaping public health initiatives and securing funding to prevent and control chronic diseases as well as to advance women’s health. Her broad interests focus on strengthening organizational capacities, changing public understanding, and advancing public policies that will improve the public’s health.

 

There is much more to learn about our advisory council members. Visit the CBCRP Web site for their full biographies.