Elizabeth M. Swisher, MD
Professor
University of Washington
Dept. of OB/GYN
1959 NE Pacific Ave
Seattle,
WA
USA
98195
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Swisher graduated cum laude from Yale University and received her MD from the University of California at San Diego. She completed her residency at the University of Washington in Ob/Gyn and a fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at Washington University St Louis. She joined the faculty at the University of Washington in where she has just been promoted to Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Both her clinical and laboratory work focus on cancer genetics and she holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Genetics. She is medical director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention Program at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Her research is currently funded by the NIH, the Department of Defense, and the Mary Kay Foundation. The primary focus of Dr. Swisher’s lab is to study the molecular genetics of ovarian cancer, including understanding the early events of ovarian tumorigenesis and development of novel biomarkers of disease and prognosis. In collaboration with Dr. Toshi Taniguchi, Dr. Swisher’s group has elucidated a novel mechanism of resistance to chemotherapy that involves restoration of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in cancers in women with inherited mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2. Her group and others have revealed that most ovarian and peritoneal cancers that occur in high risk women actually arise from malignant cells in the epithelium of the fallopian tubes and not the ovaries. Recently, she has used massively parallel sequencing to identify a broader inherited component of ovarian, fallopian tube and peritoneal cancers than previously appreciated with the goal of allowing targeted prevention in at risk women."
Papers:
10 - Focused Plenary
Germline mutations in DNA repair genes in women with ovarian, peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer treated on GOG protocols 218 and 262
136 - Scientific Plenary
A phase II evaluation of the potent, highly selective PARP inhibitor veliparib in the treatment of persistent or recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer in patients who carry a germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 m
173 - Poster Session A
Serum antibodies recognizing hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha and platinum sensitivity in ovarian cancer
238 - Poster Session A
Serum antibodies recognizing BRCA1 at time of diagnosis and primary platinum resistance in ovarian cancer
Lecturette
The Use of Cancer Gene Panels in Assessing Genetic Risk of Gyencologic Cancer