Sofia D. Merajver, MD, PhD

I am a physician scientist with a translational focus of integrating molecular genetics of breast cancer with clinical, social, and environmental determinants of outcomes in the global stage for women at high risk for breast cancer and women affected with aggressive breast cancer phenotypes. As Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, which I founded the at the University of Michigan in 1995, and as scientific leader of the Breast Oncology Program, I am engaged with clinical translational research that tests prevention and therapeutic interventions as well as educational tools to improve cancer outcomes globally. I have supervised graduate and undergraduate students, and mentored postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty who have entered research careers in molecular and psychosocial aspects of cancer outcomes in special populations in the US and in Africa. Our global health research has encompassed comparative studies on expression of metastasis associated genes in inflammatory breast cancer in the US and Africa, perceived risk, dynamics of social interactions in the family of patients at high risk, fear of insurance and employment discrimination as a major decision making determinant, and acceptance and barriers to utilization of chemoprevention in breast cancer. My global health work includes collaborations with multidisciplinary teams in the medical, epidemiological, engineering, and social sciences to train translational scientists and to best deliver cancer risk management interventions around the globe and rigorously evaluate their impact in ameliorating inequities in health.

1976-1977, Fellow of the Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Maryland
1977-1978, Faculty Research Assistant, Institute of Physical Science and Technology, U. of Maryland
1980-1983, Asst. Professor of Physical Chemistry, Dept of Chemistry, Polytechnic University, New York
1983 -1987, Assoc. Res. Scientist, Biophysics Research Div. and Assist. Prof. of Physics (Adj.), U of Michigan
1993-1994, Lecturer in Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
1994-present, Director, Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, University of Michigan 1994-1999, Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
1999-2004, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
2004-present, Scientific Director, Breast Oncology Program, University of Michigan
2004-present, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan
2010-2012, Director, University of Michigan Center for Global Health