Seema Khan Named Bluhm Family Research Professor Of Breast Cancer

CHICAGO --- Seema A. Khan, M.D., professor of surgery in Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, has been named the Bluhm Family Research Professor of Breast Cancer.

Khan joined the Northwestern faculty in 2000 to develop a program in basic science research for breast cancer. She is co-leader of the Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center and director of the Bluhm Family Program for Breast Cancer Early Detection and Prevention.

On the cutting-edge of breast cancer research in assessing the association between nipple fluid hormones, gene methylation levels and risk of breast malignancy, Khan also conducts clinical trials of cancer chemoprevention agents. She is Northwestern's principal investigator for the breast cancer trials of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project and the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group. She chairs a National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Prevention protocol investigating the effects of a soy supplement on the breast epithelium of women at high risk of breast cancer. She is co-investigator on a study of the role of alpha-B crystallin expression in breast cancer biology and was principal investigator on a recent study of ductal lavage biomarkers in high-risk women.

Khan is an associate member of the Early Detection Research Network and has served on the National Consortium of Breast Centers board of directors and the endocrinology review panel of the Department of Defense. She has also served on peer-review panels of the National Cancer Institute, the Avon Foundation, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. She is a founding member of the board of directors of the International Society of Cancer Risk Assessment and Management and is a member of the breast cancer screening panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network. She belongs to many professional societies, including the American College of Surgeons and the Society for the Study of Breast Disease.

Khan has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles as well as six book chapters and 90 abstracts. She is on the program committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will serve as track leader for breast cancer for its 2009 annual meeting. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and serves as a reviewer for many professional journals.