Carolyn Muller, MD, FACOG
Professor and Director, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Associate Director, Clinical Research
Interim Director, Clinical Trials Office
The University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Carolyn Muller, MD, FACOG, is a tenured professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine and is the director of its division of gynecologic oncology. She serves as Associate Director of Clinical Research and as the Interim Director of the Clinical Trials Office. Additionally, Dr. Muller is the Chair of the Gynecologic Cancer Clinical Working Group and is the Principal Investigator of the large NCI minority underserved NCORP grant that helps support the UNM Cancer Center research clinical trials network. Dr. Muller is also the Director of the UNM Women’s Cancer Center. She is a clinically active gynecologic oncologist providing state of the art surgical and chemotherapy care to women with ovarian, uterine, cervical and other gynecologic cancers. She is an educator and role model to medical students and residents and an effective mentor to junior faculty and to her consulting community providers.
Dr. Muller is a physician-scientist, trained at the National Institutes of Health, who conducts research primarily focusing on ovarian cancer. Dr. Muller collaborates with basic scientists at UNM to find a novel component of a repurposed drug, R-ketorolac, that impedes cancerous cell growth and the spread of ovarian cancer. She and her colleagues developed the clinical trials that have recently reported on this novel component. This work is ongoing and holds the potential to be a major advancement for women with ovarian cancer.
Dr. Muller is the New Mexico site Principal Investigator (PI) for the NIH NRG Cooperative Group, a non-profit research organization formed to conduct oncologic clinical research and to broadly disseminate study results for informing clinical decision making and healthcare policy. She is also the local PI for numerous Gynecologic Oncology Group clinical, pharmaceutical and investigator-initiated trials. Her efforts lead the way in clinical trial enrollments offering a broad menu of scientifically sound trials to her New Mexico patients.
Dr. Muller received her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Following graduation, she completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Pennsylvania Hospital in 1992. She completed a gynecologic oncology fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 1996 and continued with a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology as an assistant professor. She was recruited to UNM in 2004 and retains her board certifications in both specialties.
Dr. Muller’s work in women’s cancers has earned her several awards and national recognition. She has received the Rogerio Lobo Award from the Society of Gynecologic Investigation, the James F. Nolan Award and three consecutive Mary Kay Ash Foundation Awards. In 2015, she was nominated for both the HSC Excellence in Clinical Science Research Award and the HSC Individual Contributions to Team Science Award for her contributions to scientific advancement at UNM. She is a senior scientific reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and other National organizations. She is an active appointed member on the Gynecologic Cancer Steering Committee which sets the priorities for NIH funded gynecologic oncology research. She holds many leadership roles in the Society of Gynecologic Oncology and the Foundation for Women’s Cancer.
Dr. Muller is dedicated to improving the lives and outcomes of women battling gynecologic cancers by incorporating her surgical and clinical knowledge into scientific and technology advances to offer new and more compassionate treatments.