Previous HREB Distinguished Lectures

November, 2008
Dr. Norman F. Boyd, Senior Scientist at the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at the Ontario Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto

Dr. Boyd’s pioneering work in developing improved methods to identify components of breast tissue at increased risk of cancer, understanding the relationship between these components and other risk factors, and exploiting this information in the prevention of breast cancer has earned him international recognition. During his visit, Dr. Boyd presented a seminar titled, “Breast tissue composition and susceptibility to breast cancer.” He discussed potential mechanisms of breast cancer risk associated with mammographic density, a strong and independent risk factor for breast cancer.

September, 2007
Dr. Lynn C. Hartman, the Blanche R. and Richard J. Erlanger Professor of Medical Research, Professor of Oncology Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Dr. Hartman's work has focused on predictors of risk for breast and ovarian cancers, evaluation of novel therapeutics for ovarian cancer, and prevention strategies for breast and gynecologic cancers.  Dr. Hartman is a member of professional societies including the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO), and Women in Cancer Research (WICR).  Her presentation was entitled Risk Prediction Strategies for Breast Cancer.

January, 2005
Dr. Rudolf Kaaks of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

Dr. Kaaks, former head of the Hormones and Cancer research team at International Agency for Research on Cancer and currently at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, is a leading expert on steroid hormones and cancer and a co-PI on the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition Cohort (EPIC) gave an insightful presentation on "Overweight, physical inactivity, and cancer risk: Hormonal mechanisms."  During his visit, he also emphasized the importance of investigating energy balance, exogenous hormones, and genetic susceptibility in future studies to clarify the underlying mechanisms linking obesity to higher cancer risk.

June, 2004
Dr. Frank Stanczyk, Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California

Dr. Stanczyk is an internationally recognized authority on the metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and measurement of steroid hormones, and he has collaborated extensively on epidemiologic studies with scientists at several cancer centers and universities as well as those at NCI. During his visit, he challenged epidemiologists to consider measuring complete androgen/estrogen profiles and relevant metabolites in serum and tissue particularly using gas chromatography or liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, tools for peering into the structure of molecules by separating them based on size and charge. He gave a provocative seminar entitled "Measurements of steroid hormones in epidemiologic studies of breast and prostate cancers: What is missing?".