Meet MBCure’s liaisons from three of the world’s leading cancer institutions who are conducting leading-edge research and enhancing collaboration among top cancer institutions with funding from MBCure’s Research Consortium.
Rachel Jankowitz, MD
Dr. Rachel Jankowitz is an Associate Professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine where she serves as the breast cancer section chief and director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center at the Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center. She clinically specializes in breast cancer patient care and her research has been focused on the study of invasive lobular carcinoma. Dr. Jankowitz has served as PI or co-investigator for numerous breast cancer clinical trials, and she is a member of the NCCN guidelines breast cancer panel.
Melissa McShane, MD
Melissa McShane, MD, is an assistant professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center, part of the Temple University Health System. As a medical oncologist, she specializes in the treatment of breast cancer and is a member of the Breast Cancer Medical Oncology Program.
Dr. McShane joined the Fox Chase faculty following completion of her fellowship in hematology/oncology at Fox Chase–Temple University, where she also served as chief fellow. She chose Fox Chase because it provides an ideal environment for delivering exceptional, multidisciplinary cancer care and advancing clinical research.
Prior to her fellowship, Dr. McShane worked as an oncology hospitalist in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the University of Virginia, where she also completed her residency in internal medicine. She earned her medical degree from the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, graduating cum laude in 2014. While at Jefferson, she was inducted into multiple honor societies and received the Arnold R. Weitz, MD, Memorial Award in Hematology and the Foerderer Award for International Study. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in biology.
Dr. McShane’s research interests focus on improving outcomes for breast cancer patients. Her work includes a retrospective analysis of alternating mammogram and MRI every six months for women at high risk for breast cancer, evaluation of treatment patterns in older adults with metastatic breast cancer, and a case report on response to checkpoint inhibition in a patient with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.
In her clinical practice, Dr. McShane strives to walk alongside her patients throughout their cancer journey, helping them navigate care while supporting both their physical and emotional needs. She collaborates with surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and the palliative care team to design personalized treatment plans. In addition to providing the standard of care, she ensures patients have access to the latest therapies through clinical trial participation.
Dr. McShane is a member of the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Hematology.
Pedram Razavi, MD, PhD
Dr. Pedram Razavi is a medical oncologist and physician-scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), specializing in precision oncology for breast cancer. He serves as Director of the Breast Cancer Translational Program and Molecular Tumor Board, and Director of Liquid Biopsy and Cancer Genomics for the MSK Biomarker Development Program. His research focuses on integrative clinicogenomic approaches and circulating tumor biomarkers to characterize breast cancer at both systemic and molecular levels and to expand the clinical utility of liquid biopsy technologies.
Dr. Razavi earned his MD from Tehran University of Medical Sciences and his MPH and PhD in cancer epidemiology from the University of Southern California. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Channing Laboratory, an internal medicine residency at USC, and a medical oncology fellowship at MSK, where he also conducted postdoctoral research in cancer genomics in the lab of Dr. José Baselga.