Susan E. Clare, MD, PhD

2012-2013 BCRF Project:
(made possible by generous support from ULTA Beauty)
Co-Investigator: Anna Maria Storniolo, MD, Indiana University School of Medicine

With BCRF support, Drs. Clare and Storniolo are in the process of developing a molecular encyclopedia of the breast. This project will enable a more comprehensive understanding of how breast tissues and cells changes molecularly over the course of a woman's life. Among the risk factors for breast cancer are hereditary gene mutations, and never having been pregnant. Drs. Clare and Storniolo will utilize cutting-edge molecular technology to determine how these risk factors affect normal milk duct cells.

Mid-year Progress: Efforts to prevent and treat breast cancer are significantly impeded by a lack of knowledge of the normal mammary gland. Using normal breast tissue from the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, Drs. Clare and Storniolo have completed a molecular study, which has revealed how the breast changes during the menstrual cycle, and they have determined the effect on the breast of hormonal contraception. They are the process of applying the same molecular technology to specimens from tissue donors who are known to carry BRCA gene mutations, which put them at substantial risk of the eventual development of breast cancer. Comparing the results from the BRCA carriers to those from the breasts of women without a genetic predisposition to breast cancer will provide insights into how the risk of breast cancer is translated into specific molecular alterations.

Bio:
Dr. Clare is Associate Professor in the Division of Breast Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, at Indiana University School of Medicine. She is also a Guest Scientist/Visiting Professor at the Universit'ts-Frauenklinik, T'bingen, Germany. She received a BA (Biology), MS (Chemistry) and PhD (Chemistry) from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Dr. Clare is an Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL. Following completion of an internship and residency in general surgery at Northwestern, Dr. Clare was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Patricia S. Steeg, PhD, Women's Cancers Section, Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Clare's current laboratory research interests include a) the utilization of nanovectors for the treatment of breast cancer, b) progenitor cells and the development of the normal breast, and c) the effect of surgical extirpation of a primary breast cancer on the growth of micrometastatic disease present at the time of operation. Dr. Clare is an active member of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium. She is a member of the Clinical Advisory Board of the Cincinnati/Purdue/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Nanomedicine Development Center. Dr. Clare and her colleagues, Dr. Anna Maria Storniolo, and Connie Rufenbarger, Consumer Representative from Catherine Peachey Fund, Inc., continue to develop the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center, a biorepository of breast tissue and biospecimens from women without clinical evidence of breast cancer. The Bank can be accessed on the Web at: http://komentissuebank.iu.edu.