After an international search, Vered Stearns, M.D., has been named Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Breast Cancer Program. Stearns serves as Co-Director with Sara Sukumar, Ph.D., the Barbara B. Rubenstein Professor in Oncology.

Stearns joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2002 and is best known for her ground-breaking work on the pharmacogenetics of tamoxifen and the use of biomarkers to implement new interventions for breast cancer treatment and prevention. Her research focuses on agents that target epigenetic modifications in breast cancer and gene methylation as a prognostic and predictive marker in breast cancer and she is internationally recognized for her research in improving therapeutic options for women who suffer vasomotor symptoms as well as elucidating the role of pharmacogenetics and tamoxifen-related outcomes.

Originally from Israel, Stearns started a 7-year medical school program at the Tel-Aviv University in 1985 through an academic reserve program. She transferred to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, at Camden, New Jersey, as a third year medical student where she was awarded her medical degree in 1992. She completed her internal medicine residency and fellowship training at Georgetown University where she trained under some of the most influential leaders in translational breast cancer research. During that time, Vered was one of the first investigators in the world to perform biomarker studies with novel therapies in the pre-surgical setting.

As a clinician, Vered sees patients as an attending physician on the inpatient service and for outpatient consultations. She also supervises fellows, residents, and medical students in outpatient and inpatient services.

Stearns also leads an active research team at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and helped build the multidisciplinary breast cancer program. She was also instrumental in building the multidisciplinary translational research team and the infrastructure for innovative early clinical trials.

"Vered Stearns has made enormous contributions to the field of breast cancer research and treatment. She is an outstanding clinician and translational scientist who is well-regarded by her peers in the community, the nation, and around the world," says William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center Director.

The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, located in Baltimore, Md., is one of only 40 cancer centers in the country designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a Comprehensive Cancer Center and is the only Comprehensive Cancer Center in the state of Maryland.