Dr.Cuzick's presentation is titled “The prevention of breast cancer: progress and obstacles”. He is head of the Center for Epidemiology, Mathematics and Statistics at Cancer Research UK in London and John Snow Professor of Epidemiology at Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine at Queen Mary, University of London. He holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics and has previously worked at Oxford University and Columbia University, New York. His current interests are in cancer epidemiology and clinical trials, with special interest in prevention and screening. He is Chairman of the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS) Steering Group and is also involved in studies on the use of HPV assays for cervical screening, the use of flexible sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer screening and markers for the behavior of early prostate cancer. (Biography modified from Cancer Research UK)

Dr. Figueroa earned a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and microbiology from Stony Brook University in 2004 and a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University in 2005. She subsequently joined HREB as a Cancer Prevention Post-Doctoral Fellow and converted to a Research Fellow in 2008. Dr. Figueroa’s research is primarily focused on using biomarkers to study molecular mechanisms of cancer etiology in epidemiologic studies, with a focus on cancers of the breast and bladder

Dr. Wentzensen received an M.D. from the University of Heidelberg in 2000 and a Ph.D. in Applied Tumor Biology from the University of Heidelberg in 2008. He will receive his Master of Epidemiology from the University of Mainz in 2009. Dr. Wentzensen’s research is focused on gynecologic cancers, particularly as related to etiologic heterogeneity and biomarker discovery. He has extensive experience in discovery, translation and application of biomarkers in molecular epidemiologic studies of cervical cancer and is currently establishing a similar program in ovarian cancer.