Director, Cancer Risk Clinic, University of Chicago Hospitals, 1992 till date; Associate Dean, Global Health and Walter L. Palmer; Board Member, Young Survival Coalition; Board Member, Inflammatory Breast Cancer Research Foundation; Board Member, Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization; Professor of Medicine and Human genetics, University of Chicago.
– Nigerian Navy Hospital, c. 1980;
– Internal medicine Intern, Cook County Hospital, Chicago,1983-1984;
– Internal medicine resident, Cook County Hospital, 1984-1986;
– Chief resident, Cook County Hospital, 1986-1987;
– Post-doctoral fellow in hematology/oncology, University of Chicago, 1987-1991;
– Assistant Professor of hematology/oncology, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, 1991-2002;
– Associate Professor of medicine, University of Chicago, 2002.
– Member, Nigerian Medical Association;
– Member, American Association for Cancer Research;
– Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science;
– Member, American College of Physicians;
– Member, American Society for Preventative Oncology;
– Member, American Society of Breast Disease;
– Member, American Society of Clinical Oncology; American Society of Hematology;
– Member, Association of American Professors;
– Member, African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer;
– Member, American Society for Clinical Investigation;
– Member, Association of American Physicians.
– Recipient, Nigerian Federal Government Merit Award, 1975;
– Recipient, Nigerian Medical Association Award for Excellence in Pediatrics, 1978;
– Recipient, Nigerian Medical Association Award for Excellence in Medicine, 1980;
– Recipient, University of Ibadan College of Medicine Faculty Prize, 1980;
– Recipient, University of Ibadan College of Medicine departmental prizes in pediatrics, medicine, and surgery, 1980;
– Recipient, University of Ibadan Sir Samuel Manuwa Gold Medal for Excellence in the Clinical Sciences, 1980;
– Association for Brain Tumor Research/Ellen Ruth Lebow Fellowship, 1990;
– Recipient, American Society for Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award, 1991;
– Recipient, James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award, 1992;
– Recipient, Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, 2000;
– Recipient, Phenomenal Woman Award for work within the African-American community, 2003; – Recipient, Access Community Network’s Heroes in Healthcare Award, 2005;
– Mac Arthur Fellows Program, 2005;
– Recipient, Four Freedom Awards, 2015;
– Recipient, Villanova University Mendel Medal, 2017.
Olopade’s interest in cancer led her to push for the 1992 formation of the Cancer Risk Clinic at the University of Chicago, which she now oversees. The clinic specializes in treating high-risk cancer patients and also conducts studies on the disease, paying close attention to genetics. While working at the clinic, Olopade realized that the African-American women she treated for breast cancer seemed much younger than other sufferers of the disease.
Intent on finding out more, Olopade, in 2000, launched a small study of Nigerian breast cancer patients. After studying tissue samples from her Chicago patients and the Nigerian patients, Olopade realized that mutations in two genes—BRCA1 and BRCA2—occurred in the patients with early-onset breast cancer. At this point, Olopade wanted to know more about the genetics of breast cancer, so she gained approval for a larger study through the university’s Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research, which secured a $9.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. This ongoing study, which began in 2003, has looked at cancer patients in Nigeria and Senegal. Research results have yielded new, innovative approaches to treating breast cancer in this population. Olopade is one of four principal investigators involved in the study.
Early on, the study found that breast-cancer tumors in African women develop from basal-like cells, whereas women of European ancestry develop breast tumors from milk-duct cells. The biggest find, however, was the discovery that nearly 80 percent of African breast tumors are estrogen-receptor (ER) negative compared to 20 percent of Caucasian breast cancer tumors. This meant that hormone therapy, often used to treat breast cancer, would not work in the African population. “Tumors that are estrogen-receptor positive depend on estrogen to grow,” Olopade told Medicine on the Midway ‘s Whitlock Burton, explaining that many doctors treat breast cancer with estrogen-blocking drugs. “The estrogen-receptor-negative tumors are estrogen independent. To kill them you have to use chemotherapy, which has all the side effects and may not always work.”
These discoveries have led Olopade to rethink prevention and treatment strategies for women of African descent. She has been vocal in urging women in this risk group to start screenings at a younger age. Despite the advances, Olopade is still wrestling with one big question—how should doctors treat this more aggressive, ER negative form of breast cancer? To help find proper treatment, Olopade has been working with doctors in Nigeria to establish a clinical trial of chemotherapy tablets called Herceptin and Xeloda. Her goal is to improve mortality for African women. In the United States, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is 85 percent, but it hovers at just 10 percent in Nigeria. Olopade believes more research is needed.
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MC 2115, Chicago, IL 60637.
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