Dr. Brian Czerniecki is the Chair and a Senior Member of the Department of Breast Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Czerniecki received his BS in Biochemistry from the University of Maine, his MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and his PhD from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson and Rutgers University. He completed his general surgical residency at The Ohio State University and was a Surgical Oncology Fellow at the NCI before joining the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. At the University of Pennsylvania, he served as a Professor of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine; Attending Surgeon at the Department of Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; and Co-Director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center, overseeing recruitment and center expansion. His research interests include dendritic cell biology and interactions with T cells. He has developed dendritic cell vaccines for the treatment of cancer. He is involved in several clinical trials for treating patients with early breast cancer using dendritic cell vaccines. His research goal is the development of vaccines for the prevention of breast and other solid-tumor cancers. To this end, he is working on identifying molecular targets in early breast cancer that can be used to prevent invasion and metastasis.
Dr. Susan Hoover received her MD from the University of Texas Southwestern. She is a board-certified surgical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Moffitt Cancer Center’s Department of Breast Oncology. Additionally, she serves as the Director of the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program. She returned to Moffitt after several years of practice at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Hoover has held national committee appointments with the Society for Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, and the Association of Women Surgeons. She has been recognized by her peers and listed in Best Doctors in America® since 2009.
Dr. Nazanin Khakpour received her MD from Emory University School of Medicine. She is a surgical oncologist in the Department of Breast Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. She also serves as an instructor and mentor for medical students and resident physicians. In addition, she is a member of the Breast Cancer Screening Committee for the National Comprehensive Care Network and the Scientific Review Panel for the National Institutes of Health. Her research interests include investigating disease recurrence after lumpectomy to identify the most appropriate patients for breast conservation surgery.
Dr. Melissa Mallory is a Breast Surgical Oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center. She attended the University of Virginia for both her undergraduate and graduate studies, where she received a Distinguished Major in Biology (BS) followed by a Doctor of Medicine (MD). She completed her surgical residency at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, and completed an R25 fellowship in Multidisciplinary Image-Guided Therapy, focusing on image-guided innovations for breast surgical operations, at the National Center for Image-Guided Therapy and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Following residency, she completed a fellowship in Breast Surgical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Her research interests include breast surgical education, wellness, innovation, and exploring how new technologies and processes-of-care advancements can improve surgical outcomes. She has authored multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks, has presented nationally and internationally, and is a member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and the Society for Surgical Oncology.
Dr. Marie Catherine Lee graduated magna cum laude from Kent State University and completed her MD degree at the Northeast Ohio University College of Medicine in Rootstown, Ohio. After a general surgery residency at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, she completed the Susan G. Komen/University of Michigan Multidisciplinary Breast Fellowship in Ann Arbor. She is board-certified in General Surgery and joined the Moffitt Cancer Center’s Comprehensive Breast Program as an Assistant Professor in 2008. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the Society of University Surgeons. In addition to her clinical interests in young breast cancer patients, she is actively involved in clinical research, clinical trials, and translational breast cancer research.
Dr. Laura Kruper is a Senior Member and Breast Surgeon in the Department of Breast Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. She received her MD and Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She completed a General Surgery Residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a Breast Oncology Fellowship at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California. She then joined City of Hope Cancer Center, where she served as the Chief of the Division of Breast Surgery for the entire City of Hope system and as the Program Director of the Breast Surgery Training Program. Her clinical focus is treating the full range of breast conditions, from benign breast masses to advanced breast cancers. Her research interests include reducing healthcare disparities in the treatment of breast cancer. She is also focused on de-escalating systemic breast cancer treatment while bringing new technologies and therapies to breast cancer surgery to minimize toxicities and improve outcomes.
