Category: Awards

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Jennifer L. Guerriero, PhD, Awarded a $2.4M NIH Grant

Dr. Guerriero has been awarded a $2.4M NIH grant for the study, “Immunometabolic pathways enabled by PARP inhibition in breast cancer.”

Macrophages are highly suppressive in the breast tumor and contribute to chemo and immunotherapy resistance. Dr. Guerriero’s lab recently identified that PARP inhibitors (PARPi), a commonly used cancer therapy, induce lipogenic metabolism in TAMs, rendering them even more suppressive, which in turn drives them to inhibit T-cell function and activation and limit therapeutic responses. This work will investigate how lipogenic macrophage and T-cell metabolism in breast cancer is regulated during PARPi therapy, which is likely to provide opportunities for the development of novel treatment strategies that hold the power to overcome the immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment and improve PARPi therapy success in a number of cancer types.

Jennifer Guerriero, PhD
Lead Investigator, Division of Breast Surgery
Director, Breast Immunology Laboratory, Dana-Farber Susan F. Smith Women’s Cancer Program
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Guerriero graduated from Northeastern University with a BS in biochemistry. She obtained a PhD in immunology and pathology and molecular and cellular biology at Stony Brook University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in medical oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Dr. Guerriero is an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR); the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), where she is the chair of the Early Career Scientist Committee; and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). She is a working group member of the Immuno-Oncology interest group and the TNBC breast group of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (TBCRC), which conducts innovative and high-impact clinical trials for breast cancer.

Dr. Guerriero’s research interests include harnessing the anti-tumor potential of tumor-associated macrophages for breast cancer immunotherapy, understanding how breast cancer cell intrinsic mutations regulate the tumor microenvironment, and elucidating the biology, diversity and ontogeny of tumor macrophages in breast tumors. The major goal of the breast immunology lab is to perform in-depth analysis of animal models and patient samples to efficiently guide rational use and development of immunotherapy modalities for the treatment of breast cancer.

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Recent Faculty Awards

Congratulations to the following Department of Surgery faculty members who have recently received awards.

Brent T. Shoji, MD
2021 Distinguished Clinician Award, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Stanley W. Ashley, MD
Senior Faculty Mentor Award, BWPO Pillar Awards

Zara Cooper, MD, MSc
Diversity and Inclusion Service Award, BWPO Pillar Awards

Pardon R. Kenney, MD, MS
Clinical Teacher Award, BWPO Pillar Awards

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Regan Bergmark, MD, FARS, Named 2021 Nesson Fellow

Regan Bergmark, MD, of the Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, was selected as the 2021 H. Richard Nesson Fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her project, “Disparities in Timely Access to Quality Surgical Care at Brigham Health and in the Boston Community,” focuses on understanding inequities in timely access to local surgical care to improve access for local communities of color and individuals of low socioeconomic status.

Established in 1997, the H. Richard Nesson Fellowship is a two-year fellowship awarded to health care professionals interested in health care policy, local or state community health research, or other community clinical care that addresses society’s critical and emerging health care needs.

Delayed access to surgical care can lead to increased morbidity and mortality and are inequitably experienced by communities of color and individuals of low socioeconomic status. Moreover, people of color and those of low socioeconomic status are less likely to receive high-quality surgical care even if eminent services are nearby. Through the Nesson Fellowship, Dr. Bergmark aims to study inequities and barriers to timely surgical care at the Brigham and across Mass General Brigham and then design an RO1 intervention trial to improve access for communities of color and individuals of low economic status in the Boston area.

Regan Bergmark, MD, FARS
Associate Surgeon, Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Instructor in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Bergmark is a sinus and endoscopic skull base surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She is a graduate of Stanford University and was a John Gardner Public Service Fellow prior to earning her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. At Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bergmark received the Hollis Albright Award for Excellence in the Surgical Sciences, presented to one Harvard Medical School student annually. After her internship in general surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she completed residency training in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery at Harvard Medical School – Massachusetts Eye and Ear. She then completed fellowship surgical training in rhinology and anterior skull base surgery at Harvard Medical School – Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. Bergmark was then the Gliklich Healthcare Innovation Scholar at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, as well as a visiting scholar at the American Board of Medical Specialties, prior to joining the Brigham faculty.

She is board certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. She additionally has advanced expertise in the evaluation and treatment of patients with sinonasal and skull base disorders, including chronic sinusitis, recurrent sinus infections, nasal polyps, septal deviation, nasal obstruction, turbinate hypertrophy, tumors of the sinuses or nasal passage, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease and patients with sinus disorders requiring revision sinus surgery.

Dr. Bergmark works closely with physicians in related fields such as allergy and immunology, pulmonology, neurosurgery and oncology to provide compassionate multidisciplinary care to her patients. Her research and writing has been published in journals such as Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Rhinology, Laryngoscope, Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, JAMA-Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). 

In addition to her research on sinus and skull base diseases, Dr. Bergmark investigates how health outcomes measures, such as patient reported outcomes measures, can be better used and implemented across diverse patient populations.  Her work has focuses on underserved populations within and beyond the U.S.  She is on faculty at the Harvard Center for Surgery and Public Health, where she works with a large team of surgeons and researchers to understand how to provide better access to quality care and better health to people worldwide.