The purpose of Career Development Awards is to attract basic, translational, and clinical investigators into breast cancer research; provide them with information about human breast cancer; mentor them in their chosen career pathways, and integrate them into the translational mission of the SPORE.

Awards are distributed based on a process of nomination, application, and committee review. On occasion, the Principal Investigator may recommend appointment (e.g., if funds become available off-schedule).

The nominating process is intended to ensure the day-to-day presence of a mentor for award recipients; however, senior faculty are eligible to apply if they are not members of the DF/HCC Breast Program but seek association with the SPORE and have a promising project that would benefit from SPORE membership.

The typical applicant is a junior faculty member with a strong program of research, a secure position in a mentoring environment, and the need for funding as a bridge to independence. Award recipients attend SPORE functions, use SPORE Cores, and meet with the SPORE’s Principal Investigator on a regular basis.

Grant Year 2010

Aditi Hazra
Histone Modifications, NRG1 Expression, and Breast Cancer

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Grant Year 2009

Alexander Miron, PhD
Functional Analysis of Non-Coding SNP's Associated with Breast Cancer Risk: Novel Targets for Chemoprevention

Neil Johnson
To Determine the Genetic and Proteomic Factors Predicting Clinical Response to PARP Inhibitor Monotherapy in the BRCA1 Mutant Breast Cancer Population

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Grant Year 2008

Heather Eliassen, ScD
Predictors of plasma carotenoids and risk of breast cancer

Hanna Yoko Irie, MD, PhD
Role of AKT-2 in tumorigenesis

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Grant Year 2007

Jean Zhao, PhD
Dissecting the roles of the class 1A phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases in mammary tissue development and transformation using genetic inactivation of selected isoforms

Aedin Culhane, PhD
Integrated evolutionary analysis of breast cancer subtypes