Eric Winer, MD honored with Jill Rose Award by Breast Cancer Research Foundation

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Eric Winer, MD, Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was recognized today by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) with The Jill Rose Award. This esteemed honor is given annually to a BCRF researcher in recognition of their pioneering research in their particular field.

Winer has devoted his professional career to the treatment of individuals with breast cancer and breast cancer research. The Jill Rose Award recognizes his excellence and leadership in clinical research, his outstanding contributions in education and mentorship of young physicians, and his devotion to applying advances from clinical trials into daily practice to improve patient care and quality of life.

Throughout his career, Winer has designed and conducted clinical trials that have changed clinical practice or paved the way towards more personalized treatment of breast cancer. Winer’s clinical research has included multimodality studies to determine optimal drug doses and treatment durations, the best treatment sequence and the most effective drug combinations to treat early, locally advanced and metastatic breast cancers.

Much of Winer’s research has been directed towards the aspects of the disease that remain challenging, such as metastatic breast cancer which accounts for virtually all the estimated 41,000 lives lost to breast cancer in the U.S. every year. He and his team have conducted a range of studies to improve the treatment of this disease. In the laboratory, they have developed new models derived from patients’ tumor tissues to test novel drug combinations. In the clinic, they have developed and directed clinical trials to assess different targeted combinations of drugs, such as atezolizumab, pertuzumab and trastuzumab.

Winer has also championed the concept of “more is not necessarily better” when it comes to breast cancer treatments, reminding oncologists that both the benefits and risks of treatments must be assessed when considering treatment options. Some of his more recent work has demonstrated the benefits of treatment de-escalation – the approach of identifying patients who will do as well with less treatment.

Dr. Winer is a member of the BCRF Scientific Advisory Board. In November, he will be honored with the Westchester Women's Award in Memory of Marla Mehlman. In addition, he has received numerous awards for his work including Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Award (2017) and the William McGuire Memorial Lecture Award (2016).


News Category
Breast Cancer

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