Education

Research / Teaching Statement

Breast cancer is currently the second leading cause of death among American women today.  With recent identification of obesity as a serious health concern in the United States, obesity is now considered to be a potential risk factor for breast cancer development.  This is of particular importance to African-American women who are the most obese group in the nation.  Our lab is focused on investigating the role of adipocytokines, specifically leptin and adiponectin, in breast cancer development.  My first project looks at the effects of leptin on metastatic breast cancers and the possible signaling mechanisms that mediate these events.  My second project involves the use of epigenetic therapy to treat triple negative breast cancers.  These projects also involve looking at the underlying reasons for the health disparities that exist between African-American women and Caucasian women.

Recent Publications

Saxena, N. K., Taliaferro-Smith, L., Knight, B. B., Merlin, D., Anania, F. A., O'Regan, R. M., and Sharma, D. (2008) Bidirectional crosstalk between leptin and insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling promotes invasion and migration of breast cancer cells via transactivation of epidermal growth factor receptor. Cancer Research 68(23):9712-9722.

Emory University
Winship Cancer Institute
Department of Hematology and Oncology
1701 Uppergate Drive
Building C, Room C4024
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
404.778.1225 (office)
404.778.5530 (fax)
bcbrand@emory.edu