Current Strategies for Breast Cancer Risk Management in Women with Hereditary Predisposition with Allison Kurian, MD, MSc

This lecture will review the latest data on the prevalence and penetrance of pathogenic variants in breast cancer risk genes, summarize the evidence and recommendations for surgical risk reduction and chemoprevention, describe approaches to breast screening, and identify priority areas for future research.

Allison Kurian, MD, MSc | Presenter

Professor of Medicine and of Epidemiology and Population Health
Director, Women’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program
Stanford University School of Medicine

Dr. Kurian’s research focuses on the identification of women with elevated breast and gynecologic cancer risk, and on the development and evaluation of novel techniques for early cancer detection and risk reduction. As Director of the Stanford Women’s Clinical Cancer Genetics Program, her practice centers on women at high risk of breast and gynecologic cancers. Dr. Kurian is a leader of the Population Sciences Program at Stanford Cancer Institute and serves as Associate Division Chief for Academic Affairs in the Stanford Oncology Division.

Dr. Kurian earned her M.D. degree at Harvard Medical School, completed residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, then trained in Medical Oncology and earned her M.Sc. degree in Epidemiology at Stanford University. She is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Kurian has published more than 190 peer-reviewed articles, many in high-impact journals such as JAMA, the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Kurian’s research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, California Breast Cancer Research Program, Komen for the Cure Foundation, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, BRCA Foundation and others. Dr. Kurian serves on several national committees that advance the clinical and research mission of women’s cancer genetics: she develops evidence-based practice guidelines as a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and has led the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Scientific Program Committee for Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention.

Shabnam Asgari, MS, CGC | Moderator

Genomic Science Liaison, Ambry Genetics

Shabnam Asgari joined Ambry in 2019 as the Oncology Genomic Science Liaison for the New York Metro Area territory. She previously worked as a clinical genetic counselor at the High-Risk Cancer Genetics Program at the Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York. In her current role, she serves as a clinical liaison for the field team to educate health care providers and key opinion leaders on genetic testing and genomic medicine. She is also a student supervisor for Ambry’s Genomic Science Liaison industry rotation. Shabnam received her Bachelors of Science degree in Biology with a minor in psychology from the University of Colorado, Denver. She earned her Masters of Science degree in Genetic Counseling from the Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics at Sarah Lawrence College and is certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling.