Professor
Endowed Title: Jeanne Ann Plitt Professorship in Breast Cancer Research; H. Ben and Isabelle T. Decherd Chair in Internal Medicine, in Honor of Henry M. Winans, Sr., M.D.
Department: Internal Medicine
Graduate Programs: Cancer Biology
Dr. Ross received her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Washington University Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) under the mentorship of Dr. Philip Majerus. She then completed her residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and oncology clinical and research fellowships at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Gary Gilliland. Her laboratory has recently re-located to UTSW from the University of Michigan where for many years her laboratory investigated the basic mechanisms of transformation of normal cells into cancer cells and the resistance of cancer cells to targeted drugs (e.g. imatinib). More specifically, their research focused on 1) understanding how cancer cells hijack clathrin trafficking pathways to increase signals from multiple growth factor receptors in parallel (Rao et al., Cancer Cell 2003; 3:471) and 2) understanding how tyrosine kinase oncogene induced cancers resist targeted therapies in vivo (Oravecz-wilson et al, Cancer Cell 2009; 16:137). Her laboratory at UTSW continues in these pursuits as well as investigates mechanism of tumor suppression by BRCA1, a breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene. Her clinical practice in Michigan involved breast cancer patients of all stages and at UTSW she will care for individuals at high genetic risk for any type of cancer. She will do this by serving as the co-director of the high (genetic) risk cancer program. Her clinical interests serve as a continuous reminder that the patient is the reason for her laboratory’s scientific pursuits. Outside of her official job, she has been a strong advocate for funding of basic cancer research having served from 1997 to 2003 as president of “Concert for the Cure”, a non-profit organization that raises money for basic breast cancer research. In addition, she was the associate director of the University of Michigan Medical Scientist Training Program from 2007 to 2011. She hopes to use her experience with the Washington University and Michigan MSTPs to contribute to UTSW’s MSTP and medical school.
| Undergraduate | Kalamazoo College (1985) |
| Medical School | Washington University (1993), Medicine |
| Graduate School | Washington University (1993) |
Featured Publications
Oravecz-Wilson KI, Philips ST, Yilmaz OH, Ames HM, Li L, Crawford BD, Gauvin AM, Lucas PC, Sitwala K, Downing JR, Morrison SJ, Ross TS Cancer Cell 2009 Aug 16 2
Bradley SV, Hyun TS, Oravecz-Wilson KI, Li L, Waldorff EI, Ermilov AN, Goldstein SA, Zhang CX, Drubin DG, Varela K, Parlow A, Dlugosz AA, Ross TS Hum. Mol. Genet. 2007 Jun 16 11
Altered receptor trafficking in Huntingtin Interacting Protein 1-transformed cells.
Rao DS, Bradley SV, Kumar PD, Hyun TS, Saint-Dic D, Oravecz-Wilson K, Kleer CG, Ross TS Cancer Cell 2003 May 3 5
Rao DS, Hyun TS, Kumar PD, Mizukami IF, Rubin MA, Lucas PC, Sanda MG, Ross TS J. Clin. Invest. 2002 Aug 110 3
Ross TS, Bernard OA, Berger R, Gilliland DG Blood 1998 Jun 91 12