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Helen Gurley Brown (HGB) Presidential Initiative

  • Helen Gurley Brown
    Helen Gurley Brown

    In 2012, longtime Cosmopolitan magazine editor-in-chief Helen Gurley Brown created the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation — formerly known as the Pussycat Foundation — to further her support for the educational and professional advancement of young women and girls, among other initiatives.

    The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation established the Helen Gurley Brown (HGB) Presidential Initiative at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2016, in recognition of the fact that women with established scientific careers can be uniquely sensitive to the challenges facing their younger female colleagues in academic medicine — and that junior women researchers benefit by having women scientists as mentors and role models.

    The Initiative initially funded five pairs of senior women faculty and women fellows for two years, and expanded to include 10 pairs for 2018–2020. The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation grant provides two years of funding for Helen Fellows' salary, research, and professional development.

    The Initiative also includes:

    • The Helen Gurley Brown Leadership Development Program, which organizes semiannual meetings for Helen Mentors and Helen Fellows to update each other on their work.
    • The Helen Gurley Brown Presidential Summit on Women and Science, an annual lecture focused on the career paths of women in science.
    • Support for Helen Fellows to attend scientific conferences.
  • View the Helen Gurley Brown Presidential Summit on Women and Science from June 22, 2022

  • The Helen Trailblazer Awards

    These one-year awards fund innovative research projects led by mid-career Dana-Farber faculty who identify as women. A Helen Trailblazer Award helps propel a recipient’s project and career to the next level, further identifying her as a leader in her field. Awardees for 2022-2024 are:
    Mariella Filbin, MD, PhD
    Miranda Lam, MD
    Joyce Liu, MD, MPH
    Zuzana Tothova, MD, PhD

  • Helen Mentors and Helen Fellows 2022-2024

    Pediatric Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Pratiti Bandopadhayay, PhD
    Helen Fellow: Anna Borgenvik, PhD

    Oncologic Pathology
    Helen Mentor: Kathleen Burns, MD, PhD
    Helen Fellow: Tatiana Cajuso Pons, PhD

    Pediatric Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Sharon Bober, PhD
    Helen Fellow: Lydia Chevalier, PhD

    Medical Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Catherine Wu, MD
    Helen Fellow: Nicoletta Cieri, MD, PhD

    Medical Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Ann Partridge, MD
    Helen Fellow: Kate Dibble, PhD

    Medical Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Zuzana Tothova, MD, PhD
    Helen Fellow: Lin Han, PhD

    Pediatric Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Birgit Knoechl, MD, PhD
    Helen Fellow: Tayla Heavican (Foral), PhD

    Medical Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Sarah Hill, MD, PhD
    Helen Fellow: Saie Mogre, PhD

    Cancer Immunology and Virology
    Helen Mentor: Amy Lee, PhD
    Helen Fellow: Shaoni Mukhopadhyay, PhD

    Pediatric Oncology
    Helen Mentor: Kimberly Stegmaier, MD
    Helen Fellow: Constanze Schneider, PhD