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Heather A. Parsons, MD, MPH is a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on breast cancer and the use of blood-based genomic biomarkers to understand the course of a woman's breast cancer and response to treatment. Ultimately, she aims to develop these biomarkers to better direct existing treatments. to avoid overtreatment, and to develop new treatments to help patients live better, longer lives.Dr. Parsons is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received her medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine, where she was inducted into the AOA Honor Medical Society. She was then an Osier Medicine resident in Internal Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She completed a fellowship in Medical Oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital before joining the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers at DFCI. She is currently an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Parsons cares for patients with breast cancer as a medical oncologist at DFCI. Her research focuses on the use of blood-based biomarkers to understand - and in doing so to better treat - patients with breast cancer. She is supported by awards from the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation.