Sofia D Merajver

signal transduction to produce innovative clinical strategies for women and men at high risk for breast and other cancers and for cancer
patients with aggressive bladder, lung, and brain metastases. I am a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. I am principal lead of the Judith Tam ALK lung cancer research initiative at the University of Michigan. As Director of the
Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program and as Scientific Director of the Breast Oncology Program for >16 years, I have
focused on bridging disparities of access to genetic counseling, testing, and risk management services. In my own group, I am engaged
with clinical translational research that tests molecular, engineering, and educational interventions for persons at increased risk for
cancer. I have been PI of randomized prevention trials and of therapeutic Phase I, II, and III trials. My research has spanned the
disciplines of molecular and clinical epidemiology, mathematical oncology, drug development, molecular biology, mathematical
modeling, precision medicine through organoid model development, and artificial intelligence to predict brain metastases. In the
molecular biology of cancer and aggressive cancer phenotypes, our research has encompassed work on the role of rho and other
signaling and cytoskeletal proteins in cancer cell invasion and motility, the role of copper in angiogenesis (resulting in a patent and
translation to the clinic), and metabolism and signal transduction in cancer. I have participated in team science research on bladder
cancer and breast metastases, with emphasis on drug sensitivity testing and developing of a robust precision medicine platform. My
research laboratory has been continuously funded with 2.5-3 R01 equivalents for 32 years. I am an educator and mentor of trainees at
all levels at the UM Medical School and the School of Public Health. I have helped train over 350 scientists and nearly all are engaged
in research. I have worked on global cancer health in North and sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America with
multilateral partners to extend palliative care, cancer registration, diagnosis, and treatment to underserved populations. I am the only
faculty member at the UM to have received the Medical School Dean’s Basic Science Award, the University Distinguished Mentor
Award, and the Sarah Goddard Power Award for extraordinary mentorship, as well as the mentorship award form the Division of
Hematology-Oncology. My skills as a translational laboratory scientist in lung, breast, bladder, brain metastases, and multiple other
cancers, clinician in cancer genetics and oncology, and basic scientist, my track record as a mentor recognized by major mentoring
awards, and administrative skills as co-leader for 18 years of the large Rogel Cancer Center Breast Oncology Program and formerly
Director of a University-wide Center for Global Health as well as director of a large multidisciplinary ALK lung cancer initiative,
service on NCCN panels of cancer risk reduction and breast cancer screening for over 2 decades, comprise my qualifications to be a
co-investigator with my long-standing collaborator Dr. P Palmbos on the project "Regulation of Immunotherapy Response in Bladder
Cancer by TRIM29".

Dr. Sofia D. Merajver is an expert in clinical and translational research and breast cancer genetics with multidisciplinary research interests in the molecular genetics of breast cancer, molecular translational research, novel therapeutics, environmental and lifestyle modifiers of risk, gene function, clinical cancer risk assessment, international breast cancer research and prevention, and global health of non-communicable disease, all of which are represented in her nearly 300 publications. Her laboratory studies aggressive forms of breast cancer, with inflammatory breast cancer being the primary model. Her research is both clinical and translational. Dr. Merajver laboratory has discovered genetic alterations that contribute to an especially malignant phenotype of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). They have isolated and characterized two markers specific for inflammatory breast cancer: a novel transforming oncogene RhoC-GTPase and a tumor suppressor gene termed WISP3, which is a low affinity IGF-binding protein. The laboratory has embarked on the study of RhoC signaling in single live cells utilizing laser spectroscopic techniques and mathematical modeling. Dr. Merajver has designed, conducted, and supervised Phase I, II, and III interventional therapeutic trials and Phase III prevention trials. In recent years, Dr. Merajver has built a mathematical modeling research portfolio that focuses on theoretical and experimental approaches to understanding the integration between cellular signaling and metabolism in cancer, as well as the development of predictive biomarkers of drug response to conventional and targeted therapies. Dr. Merajver and colleagues are studying polymorphisms and mutations in new candidate tumor suppressor genes and their relationship to breast cancer risk in non-BRCA 1/2 families. Dr. Merajver has a portfolio of projects ranging from molecular genetics to epidemiology to clinical care that she organizes in international settings. In her tenure as Director of the university-wide center for Global Health, Dr. Merajver helped define the global health agenda for the University of Michigan and has created multi-lateral and multi-disciplinary platforms of research and education engagement in global health equity. Dr. Merajver is actively engaged in health disparities research ranging from molecular determinants of untoward outcomes in African Americans and economically disadvantaged minorities to low resource world populations in Africa and Latin America. She is especially well known as an educator and dedicated mentor of postdoctoral and pre-doctoral students and of junior faculty at the UM Medical School and the School of Public Health and at many institutions worldwide, where her former trainees are engaged in scientific work and leadership. Dr. Merajver has trained over 140 scientists in her career, 60 of whom are pre-doctoral or post-doctoral and 100% of them are engaged in cancer research at academic institutions, government, and industry. She has received numerous honors and awards and Dr. Merajver is the only faculty member in the University of Michigan Medical School who has received both the Dean’s Basic Science Research Award and the MICHR Distinguished Translational Mentor Award.