Rate My Professor Vandana Abramson

Vandana G. Abramson, MD, is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She holds the Donna S. Hall Chair in Breast Cancer, serves as Co-Leader of the Breast Cancer Research Program, and is Breast Cancer Disease Team Leader at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Her academic journey began with a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996, followed by an M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 2000. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2003, a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 2006, and earned an M.S. in Translational Research from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008.

Abramson's research specializes in breast cancer, focusing on mechanisms of treatment response and resistance, as well as phase I/II clinical trials of novel combination therapies. Her influential publications include 'Subtyping of triple-negative breast cancer: implications for therapy' (Cancer, 2015), 'A Randomized Phase II Neoadjuvant Study of Cisplatin, Paclitaxel With or Without Everolimus in Patients with Stage II/III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC): Responses and Long-term Outcome Correlated with Increased Frequency of DNA Damage Response Gene Mutations, TNBC Subtype, AR Status, and Ki67' (Clinical Cancer Research, 2017), 'Phase Ib Study of Safety and Pharmacokinetics of the PI3K Inhibitor SAR245408 with the HER3-Neutralizing Human Antibody SAR256212 in Patients with Solid Tumors' (Clinical Cancer Research, 2017), 'A Phase Ib Study of Alpelisib (BYL719), a PI3Ka-Specific Inhibitor, with Letrozole in ER+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer' (Clinical Cancer Research, 2017), and 'Role of Patient and Disease Factors in Adjuvant Systemic Therapy Decision Making for Early-Stage, Operable Breast Cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology Endorsement of Cancer Care Ontario Guideline Recommendations' (Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2016). She has authored over 200 research works with more than 10,000 citations. Abramson received the Conquer Cancer Foundation's Advanced Clinical Research Award in Breast Cancer. Her leadership and contributions have advanced understanding and treatment strategies in breast oncology.