Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH

Medical Oncology

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Contact Information

Office Phone Number

617-632-3800

Fax

617-632-1930

Appointments

617-632-2175

Biography

Sara M. Tolaney, MD, MPH

Dr. Tolaney is Chief of the Division of Breast Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a breast medical oncologist whose research focuses on the development of novel therapies in the treatment of breast cancer. She has been instrumental in developing several treatment approaches for breast cancer, including approaches focused on tailoring therapy for early stage HER2+ disease, use of cdk 4/6 inhibitors, antibody drug conjugates, and immunotherapy. She is a member of the National Cancer Institute Breast Cancer Steering Committee and is Vice Chair for Late-Stage Development in Breast Cancer in the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. Her research has been funded by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Susan G. Komen. She currently chairs multiple phase 3 trials in breast cancer and serves on several steering committees for practice-changing trials. Her work has been published in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and others. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1998 and her medical degree from UC San Francisco in 2002. She subsequently completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and fellowships in hematology and medical oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She obtained a Masters in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2007.

Researcher

Physician

Chief, Division of Breast Oncology, Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers

Associate Director, Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers

Senior Physician

Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Centers/Programs

Breast Oncology

Clinical Interests

Breast oncology, Immuno-oncology, Novel therapeutics

Diseases Treated

Breast Cancer

Board Certification

Hematology
Internal Medicine
Medical Oncology

Fellowship

Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare, Hematology & Oncology

Residency

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Internal Medicine

Medical School

University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

Research

View Dr. Tolaney’s Research

Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH is Chief of the Division of Breast Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Tolaney has earned both a strong national and international reputation as a talented clinical investigator and is key opinion leader in breast oncology. She has done extensive work on de-escalating therapy for patients with low-risk HER2-positive breast cancer, having developed a less toxic treatment regimen associated with a clinically low event rate. This regimen is incorporated into national and international treatment guidelines, and she has follow-up multi-institutional studies ongoing to evaluate if even less toxic therapies may have a role in these patients. She's also been instrumental in the development of cdk 4/6 inhibitors in breast cancer and served as the international co-PI for the first randomized study of cdk 4/6 inhibitors in HER2-positive breast cancer and having served on the steering committee for the study leading to the first approval of cdk 4/6 inhibitors in the adjuvant setting. Dr. Tolaney has also been instrumental in developing antibody drug conjugates, having helped lead several registration trials with these novel therapies. Moreover, she has played a pivotal role in developing a series of investigator initiated clinical trials in immunotherapy, with strong translational endpoints. Dr. Tolaney currently serves as the Chief of the Division of Breast Oncology, overseeing the department and mentors several junior faculty and fellows in their careers. Importantly, Dr. Tolaney is also an outstanding clinician, recognized by her peers for her excellent patient care with the "Lee Nadler Extra Mile Award" and is a Senior Physician at DFCI.

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