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Senior Leadership
Gerard M. Doherty, MD

Moseley Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Surgeon-in-Chief, Brigham Health & Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Crowley Family Distinguished Chair, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dr. Doherty, an acclaimed endocrine surgeon, is a graduate of Holy Cross and the Yale School of Medicine. He completed residency training at UCSF, including Medical Staff Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute.  Dr. Doherty joined Washington University School of Medicine in 1993, and became Professor of Surgery in 2001. In 2002 he became Head of General Surgery and the Norman W. Thompson Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan, where he also served as the General Surgery Program Director and Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery. From 2012 to 2016, Dr. Doherty was the Utley Professor and Chair of Surgery at Boston University and Surgeon-in-Chief at Boston Medical Center before becoming Moseley Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and Surgeon-in-Chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Doherty was trained in Surgical Oncology, and has practiced the breadth of that specialty, including as founder and co-director of the Breast Health Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.  His clinical and administrative work was integral in the establishment of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University.  Since joining the University of Michigan in 2002, he has focused mainly on surgical diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, endocrine pancreas and adrenal glands as well as the surgical management of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndromes. He has devoted substantial effort to medical student and resident education policy.  His bibliography includes over 300 peer-reviewed articles, reviews and book chapters, and several edited books.

Dr. Doherty is Past-President of both the International Association of Endocrine Surgeons (IAES) and the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons (AAES). He currently serves as Treasurer of the International Society of Surgery (ISS), the Historian for the Society for Clinical Surgery (SCS) and Editor-in-Chief of AccessSurgery.

Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD

Rob and Karen Hale Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dr. Elizabeth Mittendorf is the Robert and Karen Hale Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is also the Director of the Breast Immuno-Oncology program and Co-Director of the Breast Cancer Clinical Research Program at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center. Dr. Mittendorf received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine where she also completed a residency in General Surgery. She then served on active duty in the United States military before completing a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Mittendorf also holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston. She is board certified by the American Board of Surgery.

Dr. Mittendorf focuses her clinical and laboratory efforts on the study of breast cancer with a specific interest in immunotherapy. She has been the principle on a number of clinical protocols including the phase III PRESENT (Prevention of Recurrence in Early-Stage, Node-Positive Breast Cancer with Low to Intermediate HER2 Expression with NeuVax Treatment) study, and a multicenter phase II trial investigating the efficacy of a CD8+ T cell eliciting vaccine in combination with trastuzumab which is based on preclinical data generated in her laboratory and follows a phase I trial she conducted demonstrating the combination to be safe. This trial is supported by a Breakthrough Award from the Department of Defense. She was recently awarded a prestigious Stand Up to Cancer award to support the conduct of a multicenter trial evaluating the combination of ipatasertib and atezolizumab in triple negative breast cancer. This trial is also informed by work from her laboratory showing transcriptional regulation of PD-L1 expression through the PI3K/AKT pathway. The current focus of her laboratory work is to determine the impact of standard and experimental therapies on immunologic aspects of the tumor microenvironment in order to inform rational trials of immunotherapeutic agents in breast cancer. She is also investigating novel targets for vaccine strategies. In addition to her work evaluating breast tumor immunology and immunotherapy, Dr. Mittendorf has published extensively on a multitude of subjects related to breast cancer and surgical management of the disease to include incorporation of biologic factors into staging, management of the axilla, and surgery following receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Grants Team
Jeffrey Tarascio

Grants Administrator

Jeff joined BWH in the Spring of 2017. Prior to joining the BWH team, Jeff worked in the lighting design industry focusing on lighting design in the architectural, fashion, dance and television mediums. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Conservatory of Theatre Design and Technology at SUNY Purchase in Purchase New York. Upon graduating he had the opportunity to work in the industries listed above as a freelance designer, which took him and his designs as far as Macau, China. After finding a strong sense of purpose in a volunteer position at a large New York City hospital, Jeff moved to Boston to pursue an informal pre-med post baccalaureate program through the Harvard Extension School with his sights ultimately pursuing a career in clinical medicine. In the interim, Jeff has found a deep passion for managing research in DoS.

Gina Tonogbanua-Custer

Manager, Research Finance and Administration

Gina joined DoS in April 2018. Prior to BWH, she worked at the University of Florida, University of California – San Diego, and Imaging Healthcare Specialists. In her free time, she writes a mystery-centered blog and is working on a historical mystery.

James O’Rourke

Senior Grants Administrator

Jay joined DoS in January 2020. Prior to BWH, he worked as a Senior Research Accountant at Care New England Health System in Providence, RI. His background is in Accounting/Finance and Business Administration. Jay has also worked at several local institutions in Research Administration, including MGH, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard University, and Tufts Medical Center.

Meaghan Kelliher

Manager, Research Finance and Administration

Meag has over 11 years of Sponsored Research experience. Prior to her current role as the Research Manager of Administration and Finance within the Division of Urology, she spent 5 years as a Senior Research Administrator supporting various divisions within DoS. Before coming to BWH, she worked 6 years in Partners Research Management, across the Contracts and Post Award Teams. She is experienced in research grants and contracts management (basic science and human subjects research), clinical trials, as well as other unfunded compliance agreements (research services, data use, materials transfer, confidentiality disclosure).

Rebekkah VanLuven

Grants Coordinator

Rebekkah VanLuven joined DoS as the Grants Coordinator in December 2019. She works directly with Residents & Fellows to support them during the grant application process. Rebekkah has worked in the Healthcare Administration field for approximately 7 years. She holds a BS in Healthcare Management from Southern New Hampshire University. When Rebekkah is not working, she enjoys traveling internationally and spending time at the beach.

Jan Rounds

Senior Administrator, Research Laboratory Operations and Compliance

Jan has been with DoS for over 34 years in varying capacities. Having received a dual major BS in Biology and Environmental Science, she started in the department in 1985 working in a surgical metabolic/nutrition laboratory as an Animal Technician and Research Assistant II. In 1989 she held the position as Senior Research Assistant and Manager of Animal Research in that same laboratory. In 1996, she transitioned to Research Lab Manager and managed additional individual laboratories within the department. Since 2012, she has been the Senior Administrator, Research Laboratory Operations and Compliance for DoS. She enjoys working with such a diverse population of technicians, research assistants, research fellows, managers, and professional staff. In her free time, she enjoys beaching, hiking, cooking, essential oils and making aromatherapy products.

grant submission

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