Dr. Laura Esserman is a professor of surgery and radiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and director of the UCSF Breast Care Clinic. Her work in breast cancer spans the spectrum from basic science to public policy issues, and the impact of both on the delivery of clinical care.
Esserman is recognized as a thought leader in cancer screening and over-diagnosis, as well as innovative clinical trial design. She led the creation of the University of California-wide Athena Breast Health Network, a learning system designed to integrate clinical care and research as it follows 150,000 women from screening through treatment and outcomes. As part of Athena, she is also principal investigator for the WISDOM study, a 100,000-woman pragmatic RCT to test a risk-based approach to breast cancer screening. She is also a leader of the innovative I-SPY TRIAL model, designed to accelerate the identification and approval of effective new agents for women with high risk breast cancers.
Named as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2016, Esserman has published more than 270 peer-reviewed articles and is regularly consulted by prestigious scientific, business and consumer media. She is the recipient of the 2016 Stanford Business School Ernest C. Arbuckle Award and the 2016 Personalized Medicine World Conference Pioneer and Luminary Award.