Role of Genetics in Breast and Reproductive Cancers

Piri L. Welcsh, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Genetics at the University of Washington.  She received her PhD in Molecular Genetics from The Ohio State University.  It was during this time that the seminal paper in which Dr. Mary-Claire King demonstrated that a single gene on chromosome 17, later known as BRCA1, was responsible for many breast and ovarian cancers was published.   During Postdoctoral studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Dr. Welcsh worked under the guidance of Dr. Anne M. Bowcock and collaborated with Drs. Mary-Claire King and Francis Collins in an attempt to clone BRCA1.  Shortly after the gene encoding BRCA1 was identified, Dr. Welcsh joined the research group of Dr. King at the University of Washington where she conducted studies designed to elucidate the biological function of BRCA1.  She is currently an independent investigator  whose current research goals include the identification and characterization of both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms critical to the development of breast and ovarian cancer.

• Recognition of Hereditary Breast and Reproductive Cancer Syndromes.- Cancer Genetics in the Clinic: The Challenges and Responsibilities of Counseling and Treating Women at Risk.- Management of Women with Inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations.- Genetic etiology of breast and reproductive cancers.- Unclassified Variants in the Breast Cancer Susceptibility Genes BRCA1 and BRCA2.- Recent Advances in Understanding the Cellular Functions of BRCA1.- Recent Advances in Understanding the Cellular Functions of BRCA2.- Genetic Modifiers of Risk of BRCA1- and BRCA2-Related Breast and Ovarian Cancers.- Other Hereditary Breast Cancer Syndromes and Genes.- Ovarian and Endometrial Cancer in Patients with Hereditary Non-polyposis Colorectal Cancer Syndrome.- Somatic Alterations and Implications in Breast Cancer.- Somatic Genetic Development in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.- Genes and the environment.- High-Frequency Low-Penetrance Alleles.- Host and Viral Genetics and Risk of Cervical Cancer.- Estrogen-Metabolizing Gene Polymorphisms, Genetic Susceptibility, and Pharmacogenomics.- The Future of Discoveries in Breast and Reproductive Cancers: The Genome and Epigenetics.