Be Informed Lecture Series: Managing Risk in Familial Breast Cancer: Who, What, When, and How?

Our guest speaker:

This lecture will cover the following topics:

• What is meant by hereditary cancer?
• Why is genetic testing important, and who should be tested?
• How and when should people be tested?
• Tools to estimate risk
• How to manage higher breast cancer risk

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr. Payal D. Shah is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where she serves as the Deputy Physician Lead of the Breast Cancer Clinical Trials Unit in the Abramson Cancer Center and as a clinical investigator in the Basser Center for BRCA. Dr. Shah completed her medical training in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a Medical Oncology Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center before joining the Penn Medicine faculty. She cares for patients with breast cancer as well as individuals with inherited cancer risk, with a particular focus on aggressive breast cancer subtypes including triple-negative, HER2-positive, and metaplastic breast cancers.

Dr. Shah’s research centers on the development of novel therapies and understanding biomarkers of cancer response and resistance to treatment. She is a PI for several investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored clinical trials, with a portfolio that includes targeted therapy and immunotherapy, including novel agents such as PARP inhibitors and CAR T-cells. Her work has been supported by institutional and national funding, including an ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award and a Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Research Award.

Nationally, Dr. Shah serves on several prominent committees and expert panels, including the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Panel, the ASCO Germline Mutation Testing in Breast Cancer Expert Panel, and the ASCO Scientific Program Committee, for which she currently serves as a Track Leader.