Laura Esserman, M.D., MBA - 2014 Recipient
UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Laura Esserman, M.D., MBA, was named the inaugural recipient of the Duane Roth Achievement Award in 2014. Dr. Esserman is widely recognized for envisioning and implementing new clinical trial design in oncology that forced a shift in the industry. Through her lobbying efforts and ability to secure support from key industry members, she was able to successfully combat rigid trial design – thus allowing new treatment options to reach patients much faster.
Dr. Esserman’s various research experience is vast. Her role as a principal investigator of the Biomarker Discovery Laboratory for the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) led to the development of the ATHENA Breast Health Network, an integrated network across the University of California campuses and the Sanford Medical Center. The project followed 150,000 women through biopsy, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up in an effort to create an engine that provides and improves breast cancer prevention services for patients.
Dr. Esserman is widely recognized for envisioning and implementing new clinical trial design in oncology that forced a shift in the industry.
Dr. Esserman is a surgeon and breast cancer oncology specialist practicing at the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center where she has also held the position of director since 1996. She co-leads the Breast Oncology Program, the largest of the UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center’s multidisciplinary programs. She is a professor of surgery and radiology at UCSF and faculty at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center where she founded the program in Translational Informatics. As part of this program, her research has focused on bioinformatics, medical and clinical informatics, systems integration, and clinical care delivery.