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2009 Recipient — Andrew Berchuck, MD

Andrew Berchuck, MD

International Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium: Finding Genetic Markers of Ovarian Cancer Using Polymorphisms

Project Summary

While some ovarian cancers arise in women with inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, the genetic changes responsible for most ovarian cancers, which are not inherited, remains unknown. Understanding these latter genetic changes could lead to better diagnostics and treatment for the disease. Dr. Berchuck is the Principal Investigator of the International Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC)—that includes researchers at 19 institutions in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia–which aims to find subtle genetic changes, called polymorphisms, that may exist and predispose women to ovarian cancer. Because such polymorphism studies require large populations to compare women with ovarian cancer to woman who have not had the disease, the International OCAC was founded to facilitate the collaboration to get study subjects. The other goals of the OCAC are: finding ovarian cancer-susceptibility polymorphisms, understanding the relationship between polymorphisms and hormone pathways and investigating the links between known risk factors for ovarian cancer and polymorphisms.

Areas of Research: ,

Bio

Co-Director, Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Breast/Ovarian Cancer Program
Duke University

Andrew Berchuck, M.D. attended medical school and received his Obstetrics and Gynecology residency training at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His research and clinical training in Gynecologic Oncology was completed at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. For the past 20 years he has been on the faculty at Duke University Medical Center. In addition to caring for women with gynecologic cancers, Dr. Berchuck has been an active scientific investigator. He has published over 200 scientific papers, mostly in the area of ovarian and endometrial cancer genetics. He is Co-Director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center Breast/Ovarian Cancer Program.

Dr. Berchuck has received many national honors including awards for best oral presentation and poster at the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists annual meeting and the Wayne Rundles Award for Excellence in Cancer Research from the Duke Cancer Center. In 2004 he received an award for best scientific presentation at the International Gynecologic Cancer Society meeting. In 2005 he was awarded the Barbara Thomason Ovarian Cancer Professorship by the American Cancer Society.

Dr Berchuck has been actively involved in national activities in his field and was program chair for the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists and was elected President of the society in 2007. Dr. Berchuck also has served as Chair of a study section for the Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program, and in the past chaired OCRF’s Scientific Advisory Committee.

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