Canary Foundation's Science Team acts in two main capacities. With the approval of the Canary Board of Directors and the Scientific Leadership, they participate directly in collaborative biomarker research projects that will lead to the development of early detection tests. They advise about the validity of research projects being considered for funding by Canary Foundation and how a project will bear on the goals of the mission. Additionally, they engage with counterparts in the technology industry with a goal of advancing molecular diagnostics.

Scientific Leadership

Leland Hartwell, Ph.D., Nobel Laureate

Director, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Dr. Lee Hartwell is the President and Director of the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a position he has held since 1997. He is also a professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington. Dr. Hartwell is the recipient of many national and international scientific awards, including the 2001 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. A few of his many other honors include the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the Gairdner Foundation International Award and the Alfred P. Sloan Award in cancer research. Dr. Hartwell is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His research in human genetics has focused on the budding yeast that is essential for brewing beer and baking bread. Using the yeast cell as a model for understanding human cell behavior, Dr. Hartwell identified many genes that control cell division, which were subsequently found to control cell division in humans and often to be the site of alteration in cancer. He also discovered a new class of genes known as "checkpoint genes" that identify abnormal cell division. Dr. Hartwell earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies prior to serving as an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine. For more information on Dr. Hartwell, please see his bio at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center web site.

Frank McCormick, Ph.D., F.R.S.

Director, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center & Cancer Research Institute Dr. McCormick is a David A. Wood Distinguished Professor of Tumor Biology and Cancer Research and Director of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center & Cancer Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to his current appointments, Dr. McCormick served as Director of Molecular Biology and Vice President of Research at Cetus Corporation, and Vice President of Research at Chiron Corporation. He is a founder and former Chief Scientific Officer for Onyx Pharmaceuticals. In 1996, Dr. McCormick was awarded a Fellowship in the Royal Society, the National Academy of Science in the United Kingdom. He has more than 220 publications to his credit. Dr. McCormick earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. He has held postdoctoral fellowships at State University of New York at Stony Brook and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London. For more information about Dr. McCormick, please see his bio at the UCSF Medical Center web site.

Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, M.D., Ph.D.

Director, Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford University
Canary Scientific Program Director Sanjiv Sam Gambhir is a Professor of Radiology and Bioengineering at Stanford University, where he serves as Chief of the Nuclear Medicine Division and Director of the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS). He is a Principal Investigator (PI) for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence and the NCI In Vivo Cellular & Molecular Imaging Center (ICMIC), and is the Program Director for a post-doctoral fellowship molecular imaging training grant. In 2006, Dr. Gambhir received the Paul C. Aebersold Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine, which is given for outstanding achievement in basic nuclear medicine science. Dr. Gambhir also co-hosted a Nobel Symposium in Stockholm in 2007 on Molecular Imaging. His many honors include the Hounsfield Medal from Imperial College London (2005); the Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2004); the Holst Medal (2003); and the Taplin Award (2002). Dr. Gambhir serves on numerous corporate scientific advisory boards and is a member of the National Cancer Institute scientific advisory board. As an expert in numerous molecular imaging modalities, Dr. Gambhir leads a team of more than 125 scientists in the molecular imaging program and directs a lab of over 25 post-doctoral fellows and graduate students. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). For more information about Dr. Gambhir, please see his bio at the Stanford University MIPS web site.

Teri Brentnall, M.D., Pancreatic Team Leader

University of Washington
Canary Pancreatic Team, Canary Baseline Team Dr. Brentnall is a practicing gastroenterologist and an Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Washington, where she leads a research group that studies the growth of tumors in the gastrointestinal tract with an emphasis on pancreatic cancer. She is also an affiliate of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. A passionate cancer researcher, Dr. Brentnall is the driving force behind the University of Washington's innovative Pancreatic Cancer Surveillance Study, which has been tracking high-risk patients for a decade in an effort to improve early detection methods. As a pancreatic cancer expert, Dr. Brentnall is actively involved in many pancreatic cancer research organizations and committees, including the GI oncology section of the American Gastroenterological Association, the NIH Progress Review Group for Pancreatic Cancer, the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Pancreatic Cancer Organization (PANCAN), and the Western Pancreas Cancer Group. She is also an invited panel member of the National Pancreatic Foundation Workshop on the Future of Research in Pancreatic Diseases. Dr. Brentnall earned an M.D. at the University of Washington in Seattle and completed her residency in Medicine at UCLA. She completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at University of Washington. See her faculty page for more information about Dr. Brentnall.

Charles Drescher, M.D., Ovarian Team Co-Leader

University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Ovarian Team Dr. Drescher is a practicing gynecological oncologist. His primary academic appointment is with the University of Washington as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with a joint appointment as an Associate Member in the Molecular Diagnostics Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Drescher's research interests include the application of novel molecular technologies to identify ovarian cancer early detection and prognostic markers. He is a co-Principal Investigator of a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Ovarian Cancer grant funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), for which he oversees the recruitment and enrollment of ovarian cancer patients into a surgical (tissue) donation program. As an expert in gynecological oncology, Dr. Drescher is also actively involved in many ovarian cancer research organizations and committees, including the NCI Gynecological Cancer Steering Committee and the Gynecological Oncology Group. Dr. Drescher earned his M.D. at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he also completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology. See his profile for more information about Dr. Drescher.

Samir Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., Lung Team Leader

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Lung Team, Canary Ovarian Team Dr. Hanash is a Full Member of the faculty and the Program Head for the Molecular Diagnostics Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) in Seattle. Dr. Hanash was recruited to the FHCRC from his prior position as a full professor at the University of Michigan. Dr. Hanash's interests and expertise focus on the development and application of integrated approaches to the molecular profiling of cancer, with particular emphasis on proteomics. He has been a program principal investigator (PI) for multi-investigator projects funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), PI for an NCI Director's Challenge program that focuses on molecular profiling of lung, colon and ovarian cancer, and PI of an NCI-funded Cancer Biomarker Development program that focuses on the application of proteomics to the discovery of protein markers for the early diagnosis of lung and GI cancers. Dr. Hanash has organized and participated in several workshops sponsored by the NCI related to cancer diagnostics and molecular profiling. Dr. Hanash earned his M.D. from the American University of Beirut and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. See his bio for more information about Dr. Hanash.

Dr. Peter Nelson, M.D., Prostate Team Leader

University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Canary Prostate Team, Canary Baseline Team Dr. Nelson has two academic appointments: Member of the Human Biology and Clinical Research Divisions of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Professor of Oncology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington. Dr. Nelson is a practicing medical oncologist, with a clinical specialty focused on the treatment of prostate cancer. He also has a laboratory engaged in studies of molecular changes that underlie the development and progression of prostate carcinoma. As an expert in prostate cancer, Dr. Nelson is also actively involved in many prostate cancer research organizations and committees, including the Pacific Northwest Prostate Cancer SPORE supported by the National Cancer Institute, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the Institute for Prostate Cancer Research. His awards include a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health, a Damon Runyon Scholar Award, and Awards from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (formerly CaPCURE). Dr. Nelson earned his M.D. from the University of Kansas and served as chief resident at the University of Kansas Medical Center before completing a two-year fellowship in biotechnology at the National Cancer Institute.

Martin McIntosh, Ph.D., Baseline Team Leader, Ovarian Team Co-Leader

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Ovarian Team, Canary Baseline Team Dr. McIntosh is an Associate Member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and Principal Investigator (PI) of the Computational Proteomics Laboratory. Dr. McIntosh has a long history of research in biomarkers and early detection of disease, particularly ovarian cancer, and serves in leadership positions both at the FHCRC and nationally for biomarker discovery research programs. He is the leader of an early detection project of the FHCRC's ovarian cancer SPORE award and is one of three Principal Investigators in the NCI's proteomics initiative consortia. Dr. McIntosh is also a PI of the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) biomarker development laboratory (for breast and ovarian cancer), and his laboratory leads the data integration and mining for several consortia for cancer as well as neurodegenerative disease research. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Proteome Research and co-Chair of the biomarker initiative for the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO). His primary research focus involves discovery and evaluation of biomarkers and biomarker panels for early disease detection. Dr. McIntosh received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. For more information on Dr. McIntosh's work, please see the Computational Proteomics Laboratory web page.

Science Team

Peter Bach, M.D.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Canary Lung Team Dr. Bach is an Associate Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and a member of the Health Outcomes Research Group in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Dr. Bach also engaged in healthcare policy work and served as a senior adviser to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where he was also the agency lead on cancer policy. During the Rwandan Civil War, he was a camp physician caring for refugees in Goma, Zaire. Dr. Bach's research focuses on epidemiology of lung cancer and quality of care. He was the lead author of the American College of Chest Physicians position on early detection of lung cancer, and the lead investigator of a critical study that evaluated the impact of chest CT screening for lung cancer on diagnostic, treatment and mortality rates. Dr. Bach is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine. He received his M.D. at the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed his medical training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. For more information about Dr. Bach, see his bio at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Andrew Berlin, Ph.D.

Dr. Andrew Berlin is a senior technologist and entrepreneur based in San Jose, California, where he is currently architecting a new venture. Dr. Berlin has broad experience in early disease detection, bioscience, MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), computer architecture, and Information Technologies. Dr. Berlin founded, built, and led Intel Corporation's biomedical diagnostics (biochip) research activities, and grew these into a business unit which collaborates closely with major biomedical research centers in academia and industry. During Dr. Berlin's six-year tenure at Intel, the R&D program achieved major advances in molecular analysis of biopolymers, including the world's first detection of the DNA nucleotide 'dGMP' at the single molecule level, development of an optical method for profiling post-translational modifications to proteins to discover biomarkers, development of new types of nanoparticles for use in molecular diagnostics, and multiple advances in microfluidic biochip fabrication. Prior to joining Intel, Dr. Berlin co-founded the MEMS & Smart Matter activities at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Dr. Berlin received S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received the Guillemin thesis prize for developing a real-time computer vision chip. Dr. Berlin holds 41 issued US patents with dozens of patents pending.

James Brooks, M.D.

Stanford University
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Brooks is an Associate Professor of Urology at Stanford University School of Medicine and a urologic surgeon practicing at the Stanford Cancer Center. He is also co-leader of the Stanford Cancer Genome Characterization Center of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project and serves on the editorial board of The Prostate. A co-author of more than 80 publications, Dr. Brooks is the recipient of several awards, including the Doris Duke Foundation Clinical Research Scientist Award, the National Kidney Cancer Association's Eugene Schoenfeld Award, and the Leutje-Stubbs Faculty Scholar Award at Stanford University. Dr. Brooks' research is focused on genetic changes common to all prostate cancers and identification of carcinogen defense enzymes as a potential prostate cancer protection strategy. He received his M.D. at Stanford University and his urology residency training and urologic oncology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University. For more information about Dr. Brooks, please see his bio at the Stanford University School of Medicine web site.

Patrick Brown, M.D., Ph.D.

Stanford University
Canary Ovarian Team, Canary Pancreatic Team, Canary Prostate Team, Canary Baseline Team Dr. Patrick Brown is a Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Medicine at Stanford University, where he also serves as an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is a founding Co-Director of the Public Library of Science. Dr. Brown participates on the editorial boards at Genome Biology, the Journal of Biology, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A former Associate Editor at Virology and editorial board member for the Journal of Virology, Dr. Brown has more than 180 publications to his credit. He is the recipient of many awards, including the Millennium Award for Genomics Research in Clinical Immunology, the National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology, the Discover Magazine Innovation Award, and the Takeda Foundation Award. Dr. Brown earned his doctorate in Biochemistry and M.D. degrees with honors from the University of Chicago.

Peter Carroll, M.D.

University of California, San Francisco
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Peter Carroll is Chair of the Department of Urology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and the Ken and Donna Derr-ChevronTexaco Distinguished Professor in Prostate Cancer, as well as Associate Dean of the UCSF School of Medicine. He is also Director of Clinical Services and Strategic Planning for the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Director of the multidisciplinary program in Urologic Oncology at the UCSF/Mt. Zion Medical Center. He is an active member of several professional medical societies, including the American Urological Association, the American College of Surgeons, the Western Urologic Forum, and the American Association for Cancer Research. Dr. Carroll's research interests include health-related quality-of-life issues, development and validation of phenotypic and genotypic markers of cancer progression, and predictors and management of recurrence following local therapy for prostate cancer. Dr. Carroll received his M.D. from Georgetown University; his general surgery training was at UCSF, where he completed his urology residency. Dr. Carroll also completed a fellowship in urologic oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. For more information on Dr. Carroll, please see his bio at UCSF.

Jason Chien, M.D.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute and University of Washington
Canary Lung Team Dr. Chien is an Assistant Member in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Washington. He also serves as Director of the Lung Cancer Early Detection and Prevention Clinic at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a clinic focused on the health of patients at risk for lung cancer and tobacco-related lung diseases. Dr. Chien's research interests include applying genetic epidemiology to identify biomarkers of risk for particular respiratory outcomes following stem cell transplantation. He received his M.D. at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School and completed his medical training at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Ohio. He holds an M.S. in Genetic Epidemiology from the University of Washington. Visit his profile for more information about Dr. Chien.

Colin Collins, Ph.D.

University of California, San Francisco
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Collins is an Associate Professor of Urology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is also a Principal Investigator of the UCSF Prostate Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) research project. His previous affiliations include both the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Collins' research focus is translational genomics: using mathematics, genomics, computer science and clinical science to improve diagnostics and therapeutics. His recent work on the UCSF Prostate SPORE identified of a suite of DNA based biomarkers that together may predict a patient's risk of progression. Dr. Collins received his Ph.D. in Medical Genetics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. For more information about Dr. Collins, please visit his profile at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center.

George Coukos, M.D., Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania
Canary Ovarian Team Dr. Coukos is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and also directs the Gynecologic Malignancy Research Program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2005, Dr. Coukos was appointed the Celso Ramon Garcia Chair in Reproductive Biology, and in 2007 the Center for Research on the Early Detection and Cure of Ovarian Cancer was established with Dr. Coukos as its Director. He has also served as Director of Gynecology Service at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Philadelphia. Dr. Coukos is best known for his effort and contributions in translational research toward understanding the immune system's response to ovarian cancer. Dr. Coukos has been recognized with numerous awards, including most recently the Greenfield Award for Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research (Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, 2006), Sir William Osler Award for Excellence in Patient Oriented Research (University of Pennsylvania, 2007), and the Philadelphia Crystal Ball Award for Research Excellence in Ovarian Cancer. He earned his M.D. from the University of Modena (Italy) and his Ph.D. from the University of Patras School of Medicine (Greece). He completed an Obstetrics and Gynecology residency and a clinical fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania and holds board certifications in both specialties. See his faculty page for more information about Dr. Coukos.

Ziding Feng, Ph.D.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Feng is a Full Member of the Biostatistics and Cancer Prevention Programs at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and an Affiliate Professor in Biostatistics at the University of Washington. In addition, Dr. Feng is head of the coordinating center of the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) at FHCRC, providing logistic, bioinformatics and data management support for EDRN as well as developing statistical methodology useful for the EDRN mission to identify and validate biomarkers for cancer risk prediction and early detection. Dr. Feng's research interests include guidelines for biomarker evaluation in cancer early detection, prostate cancer epidemiology and outcome, and GI cancer etiology. Dr. Feng received his Ph.D. in Biometry from Cornell University. For more information about Dr. Feng, visit his bio at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Martin Gleave, M.D.

University of British Columbia
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Gleave is a Distinguished Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia; Director of the Prostate Center at Vancouver General Hospital; and Chair of the Genito-Urinary Tumour Group at the British Columbia (BC) Cancer Agency. He is Principal Investigator of several Canadian national cooperative studies in prostate cancer and is the current Chairman of the the Canadian Uro-Oncology Group and the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) Genito-urinary Clinical Trials Group. Dr. Gleave has demonstrated success in moving therapies from the bench to the clinic; prostate cancer progression inhibitors developed through his research are entering Phase III clinical trials in North America. Dr. Gleave is the recipient of many awards, including the NCIC's prestigious William Rawls Award for contributions to cancer control in Canada and the BC Leadership Chair in Prostate Cancer Research. Dr. Gleave's major research focus involves the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating progression of prostate cancer to its lethal stage of androgen independence, and the development of therapies that target these mechanisms. He received his M.D. at the University of British Columbia and completed a Urologic Oncology fellowship at University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center. For more information about Dr. Gleave, please see his bio at the Vancouver General Hospital Prostate Center web site.

Gary Goodman, M.D.

Swedish Cancer Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Lung Team Dr. Goodman is a medical oncologist and holds a joint membership as a Senior Investigator with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Swedish Cancer Institute. He is a Principal Investigator of the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), a large chemoprevention trial that recruited 18,314 participants from across the U.S. who were at high risk for lung cancer and followed them for up to twenty years. Dr. Goodman has been primarily responsible for the overall design of CARET with his experience as a clinical investigator in lung cancer clinical trials. Dr. Goodman is also the Principal Investigator for the Seattle Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) Study Center and is a member of the SELECT Steering Committee. Dr. Goodman earned his M.S. in Pharmacology and M.D. from the University of Illinois. He received postdoctoral training in Internal Medicine at the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center and in Medical Oncology at the University of Arizona. See his profile for more information about Dr. Goodman.

Peter Laird, Ph.D.

University of Southern California
Canary Ovarian Team Dr. Peter Laird is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine. In 1997, he was named Director of Research for the Department of Surgery at USC, and was appointed as head of the Epigenetics and Regulation Program for the Norris Cancer Center in 2004. He is currently Principal Investigator for three National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants, and also serves as a co-investigator on several NIH grants. His work at USC has led to the invention of two new DNA methylation analysis techniques: COBRA, published in 1997; and MethyLight, published in 1999 and patented in 2001. Dr. Laird serves on the Board of Directors of the DNA Methylation Society; is a co-founder of Orca Biosciences, Inc.; and is a consultant, shareholder, and Scientific Advisory Board member of Epigenomics. His awards include a Stop Cancer Research Career Development Award (1996) and a Career Development Award from the USC Liver Disease Research Center (1997). Dr. Laird earned his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and completed his post-doctoral work at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). For more information on Dr. Laird, see his faculty page at the USC web site.

Ite Laird-Offringa, Ph.D.

University of Southern California
Canary Lung Team Ite Laird-Offringa is an Associate Professor of Surgery and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Southern California (USC), Keck School of Medicine. She is also Associate Director for the Program in Biomedical and Biological Sciences at USC. She is a member of many national and international professional and advocate societies, including the American Association for Cancer Research, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and the National Lung Cancer Partnership. Dr. Laird-Offringa is devoted to the urgent need for better tools for early lung cancer diagnosis. Her current research in lung cancer is focused primarily on DNA methylation changes and antibodies as biomarkers. She and her father recently completed the New York City marathon as fundraisers for the Thomas G. Labrecque Foundation, raising thousands of dollars for lung cancer research. Dr. Laird-Offringa earned her Ph.D. from the University of Leiden, The Netherlands, and conducted postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School. See her bio for more information about Dr. Laird-Offringa.

Dan Lin, M.D.

University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Lin is an Associate Member in the Cancer Prevention Program of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and an Associate Professor in Urology at the University of Washington. He is also a compassionate clinician, practicing urologic oncology through the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Dr. Lin has served as Principal Investigator for multiple grants relating to prostate cancer and has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers. In 2007, Dr. Lin received the Young Investigator Award from the Society of Basic Urologic Research. His research is focused on the molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer and the discovery of biomarkers for prostate cancer risk and early detection. He received his M.D. at Vanderbilt University and his urology residency training and urologic oncology fellowship training at the University of Washington and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, respectively. For more information on Dr. Lin, please see his bio at the University of Washington.

Brad Nelson, Ph.D.

British Columbia Cancer Agency
Canary Ovarian Team, Canary Lung Team, Canary Pancreatic Team, Canary Prostate Team Dr. Nelson is the founding Director and Senior Scientist of the British Columbia (BC) Cancer Agency's Trev and Joyce Deeley Research Centre in Victoria, BC, Canada, where he also established an antibody research unit that produces antibodies and immunoassays for the Canary Foundation Panel Project. Previously, Dr. Nelson was located in Seattle, Washington, as a member of the faculty at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington. In 2000, Dr. Nelson was awarded an Ovarian Cancer New Investigator Award by the US Department of Defense. He has been studying the immune response to cancer for over 15 years, with an interest in early detection and immunotherapy. He has a personal link to the mission of the Canary Foundation, having lost his mother-in-law to ovarian cancer in 1992. Dr. Nelson received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the University of California at Berkeley and completed postdoctoral training at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. For more information about Dr. Nelson, please see his bio at the BC Cancer Agency web site.

Sylvia Plevritis, Ph.D.

Stanford University
Canary Lung Team Dr. Plevritis is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Radiology at Stanford University. She is the Principal Investigator of both the Stanford Cancer Intervention Surveillance Network (CISNET), and the Stanford Integrative Cancer Biology Program (ICBP), as well as Lead of the Biostatistics and Biocomputational Core for the Stanford Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE-TR). Recently, Dr. Plevritis was awarded the 2007 Stanford Faculty Fellows Leadership Award. Dr. Plevritis' research intersects the fields of medical imaging, genomics, proteomics and medical technology assessment, and includes computational modeling of cancer biology and cancer patient outcomes as well as development of biocomputational methods for analysis of high throughput genomics and proteomics data. Her recent work with CISNET focuses on developing mathematical models to quantify the effectiveness of mammography and MRI in screening for breast cancer and CT in screening for lung cancer. Dr. Plevritis earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and M.S. in Health Services Research at Stanford University. See her bio for more information about Dr. Plevritis.

Janet Stanford, Ph.D.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Janet Stanford is Director of the Program in Prostate Cancer Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Program in Epidemiology, and Professor (Research) of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington. She is a Principal Investigator of the Pacific Northwest Prostate Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) research project and the data collection component of the Seattle-based Prostate Cancer Genetic Research Study (PROGRESS). She is also a member of the International Consortium for Prostate Cancer Genetics. Dr. Stanford is internationally known for her work in a variety of prostate cancer areas, including lifestyle, environmental and genetic risk factors; predictors of function and quality of life after treatment; and disease recurrence and progression. Dr. Stanford received her Ph.D. in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University and completed postdoctoral work in cancer epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. For more information on Dr. Stanford, please see her bio at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Ian Thompson, M.D.

University of Texas
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Thompson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Urology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In addition, Dr. Thompson is chair of the executive committee of the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN). As Principal Investigator of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), Dr. Thompson led a prostate cancer prevention trial in 219 institutions across the United States. Dr. Thompson is the recipient of multiple awards including the American Urological Association's Distinguished Contribution Award and the Legion of Merit, United States Army. His research interests include prostate cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Dr. Thompson received his M.D. at Tulane University. He completed his residency in Urology at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas and a fellowship in Urologic Oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Mark Thornquist, Ph.D.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Lung Team Research Center in Seattle, Washington. He also serves as Director of the Comprehensive Center for the Advancement of Scientific Strategies (COMPASS). He is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), a chemoprevention trial of lung cancer conducted from 1985-2005. As the lead statistician on that trial and the director of the CARET Coordinating Center, he directs all activities associated with the extensive CARET specimen and data repository. Dr. Thornquist is also the Co-Principal Investigator of the Data Management and Coordinating Center (DMCC) for the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN), overseeing DMCC operations. He is the chair of EDRN's Data Sharing and Informatics subcommittee. Dr. Thornquist's principal research focus is on validating markers for the early detection of cancer, with a focus on lung, ovarian, and bladder cancer, and on determining life style risk factors for cancer. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Wisconsin. See his faculty page for more information about Dr. Thornquist.

Larry True, M.D.

University of Washington
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Larry True is a Professor of Pathology and Adjunct Professor of Urology at the University of Washington as well as a staff pathologist at the University of Washington Health Sciences Center and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He has also served as a faculty member at the University of Chicago and at Yale University. Dr. True is actively involved with NIH specialty review panels, the Education Committees of the US-Canadian Academy of Pathology, and the American Society of Clinical Pathology. Dr. True's clinical specialty is diagnostic surgical pathology, and he has published extensively on the clinical and pathologic features of prostate carcinoma. His recent research has focused on characterizing the genotype and phenotype of primary and metastatic prostate cancer. Dr. True earned his M.D. at Tulane University and completed a residency in Pathology at the University of Colorado.

Nicole Urban, Sc.D.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Canary Ovarian Team Dr. Urban is a Professor of Health Services Research at the University of Washington and serves as head of the Gynecologic Cancer Research Program and as a Member of the Molecular Diagnostics Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Dr. Urban has been working to reduce mortality from breast and ovarian cancer for over 15 years, studying ways to improve the use, performance and efficacy of breast and ovarian cancer screening tools, including mammography and the blood test CA125. She has been awarded a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Ovarian Cancer by the National Cancer Institute, as well as a Center for the Evaluation of Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer award by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program. An ovarian cancer survivor, she is particularly interested in the discovery, development and validation of novel markers detectable in serum, for use in cancer risk assessment and screening. She is best known for her evaluation of candidate serum markers for ovarian cancer, including HE4 and Mesothelin, and for her analysis of the cost-effectiveness of screening for ovarian cancer. Dr. Urban earned an M.S. in Biostatistics and an Sc.D. in Health Services and Biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health. See her faculty page for more information about Dr. Urban.

Harold Varmus, M.D., Nobel Laureate

President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Canary Lung Team Dr. Harold Varmus is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr. Varmus received the Nobel Prize in 1989, jointly with Michael Bishop, his former colleague at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), for the discovery that normal cells contain genes that are capable of becoming cancer genes. From 1993 to 2000, Dr. Varmus served as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and has received the National Medal of Science, the Vannevar Bush Award, and several honorary degrees. In addition to authoring over 300 scientific papers and four books, including an introduction to the genetic basis of cancer for a general audience, Dr. Varmus has been an advisor to the Federal government, pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, and many academic institutions. He served on the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Public Library of Science, chairs the Scientific Board of the Grand Challenges in Global Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and is involved in initiatives to promote science in developing countries. Dr. Varmus earned his M.D. at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons and conducted postdoctoral work at the NIH and at UCSF. See his bio for more information about Dr. Varmus.

Robert Vessella, Ph.D.

University of Washington
Canary Prostate Team Dr. Robert Vessella is the Director of Genitourinary Cancer Research Lab and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he is also a Professor. He is a Research Career Scientist at the Puget Sound VA Health Care System. Since 2001, Dr. Vessella has served as an initiative Chairman in the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Program. Dr. Vessella's research interests encompass a wide range of prostate cancer topics, including biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis and response to treatment, and mechanisms of cancer metastases. Dr. Vessella received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. For more information on Dr. Vessella, please see his bio at the University of Washington.

Jürgen K. Willmann, M.D.

Stanford University
Canary Lung Team Dr. Willmann is an Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Radiology and Clinical Attending Physician at the Institute of Diagnostic Radiology at University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Since May 2006, he has been serving as a Research Fellow in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford, working with Dr. Sam Gambhir. He serves as a reviewer for several medical journals focused on radiology and has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Willmann's research interests include development of molecular imaging approaches for early detection of cancer. In addition, he is working on clinical studies including magnetic resonance imaging and multi-detector row computed tomography. Dr. Willmann was named a P.D. (Privatdozent with "venia legendi") at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He received his M.D. at Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg, Germany. For more information about Dr. Willmann, see his bio at the Stanford University Molecular Imaging Program web site.