Overcoming Ovarian Cancer Chemoresistance

Dr Samimi currently serves as a Program Director in the Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, NCI. She manages the Ovarian Cancer Prevention portfolio and scientific monitoring of early phase ovarian cancer clinical trials within the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention Early Phase Prevention Consortia. Dr. Samimi’s research interests include molecular mechanisms of ovarian cancer etiology, circulating/shed DNA as a biomarker of ovarian cancer, and improving identification of high-risk individuals including BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Dr. Samimi currently serves on the Trans-NCI Cancer and Bioethics Working Group, and the NCI Moonshot Generation of Human Tumor Atlases Implementation Team.

Dr Annunziata is Principal Investigator and Clinical Director of the Women’s Malignancies Branch at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. She received her MD and PhD from Georgetown University, and completed residency in Internal Medicine at that institution, followed by Medical Oncology Fellowship at the NCI. In the Intramural Program of the NCI, she runs a translational research laboratory and is involved with several clinical protocols. She has mentored both scientific and clinical fellows, who moved on to Assistant Professor positions, with independent grant funding. Outside the NIH, Dr. Annunziata has chaired grant review committees for ASCO and DOD.