The Komen Scientific Advisory Council members who also are faculty at the Indiana University School of Medicine are:
- Sunil S. Badve, M.B.B.S., associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine
- Theresa A. Guise, M.D., the Jerry W. and Peggy S. Throgmartin Professor of Oncology and professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology
- Kathy Miller, M.D., associate professor of medicine and Sheila D. Ward Scholar, who was selected as a 2010 Associate SAC Member
- Harikrishna Nakshatri, Ph.D., the Marian J. Morrison Professor of Breast Cancer Research and a professor of surgery, biochemistry and molecular biology
The Scientific Advisory Council will provide scientific peer review for the breast cancer grants and programs that Komen funds annually and will provide guidance on breast cancer education and public policy to Komen leadership. Komen has invested more than $500 million in research programs since 1982 and currently funds nearly 760 active research grants worldwide. The organization plans to invest another $55 million into 105 programs in 2010.
A surgical pathologist, Dr. Badve is the primary pathologist for breast cancer research at the IU School of Medicine. He also is a co-director of the Indiana Center for Systems Biology and Personalized Medicine and directs the translational genomics core at the medical school.
Dr. Guise is an expert on metabolic bone diseases. Her interest in these diseases has led her to another pertinent area of research – the skeletal complications of malignancy and the effect of chemotherapy and radiation treatments on bone.
Dr. Miller specializes in the study and treatment of breast cancer and directed early studies into a drug that inhibits the development of tumor-sustaining blood vessels and other drugs used to treat advanced breast cancer. She has earned research funding from numerous sources including the National Cancer Institute, the Komen Cancer Foundation, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Dr. Nakshatri is studying the mechanisms of chemotherapy resistance and organ-specific metastasis in breast cancer. His lab is testing novel therapeutic agents targeting specific signaling pathways in breast cancer and has developed biomarkers that can help in predicting response to therapy.
SAC members will serve as either full or associate council members. Full members are established senior scholars and leaders in the field of breast cancer who have already made significant contributions to the field. Associate members are independent investigators and scientists between five and 12 years from fellowship training who demonstrate significant promise. These individuals are destined to be leaders in the years ahead.
The Scientific Advisory Council is focused on the organization’s research program and the research with the best chance of providing effective treatments within 10 years.