Beatriz G.T. Pogo, M.D., DMSc

Dr. Beatriz G.T. Pogo obtained her M.D. and DMSc degrees at the School of Medicine of Buenos Aires University in Argentina. Upon graduation she Won the National Research Council of Argentina Scholarship followed by the Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Sloan Kettering Institute and the Rockefeller University in New York.

She became an associate member in the Department of Virology at the Public Health Research Institute of New York City. At the Invitation of the late Dr. Charlotte Friend. Dr. Pogo joined the Center for Experimental Cell Biology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine where she was appointed as Professor. Currently at Mount Sinai, Dr. Pogo is Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, member of the Graduate Faculty, member of the Cancer Institute and Director of the Virology Laboratory of the Martell Laboratories in the Division of Hematology Oncology.

Dr. Pogo's participation in the international scientific community includes membership in the National Academy of Medicine of Argentina, Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, Honorary Member of the Argentinian Society for Cancer Research. She was named Distinguished Woman in Science by the association of Women in Sciences.

Dr. Pogo’s contributions cover a wide range of significant observations in the fields of cell biology and molecular virology. The seminal observation that histone acetylation is associated with gene activation was followed by fundamental studies in the replication and pathogenesis of poxviruses, and collaboration with Dr. Charlotte Friend on basic studies of the Friend Leukemia Virus.

Recently, Dr, Pogo has been focusing on the search for a virus in human breast cancer. Her Laboratory identified and sequenced the viral genome of a mouse mammary tumor virus which is thought to be associated with human breast cancer.

Dr. Pogo is internationally recognized in the field of molecular virology and has been invited to serve on NIH study groups, and to review grant applications for the Spanish, Czech, Israeli and Argentinian Research Councils. She is member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Women's Cancer and Cancer Letters, and frequent reviewer for Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Cancer Epidemiology and Biomarkers, FASEB letters, Virology Journals and Environmental Health Perspectives. She is the author of 181 peer-reviewed publications.

Less than 2% of the scientific research on breast cancer is devoted to discovery of its causes; rather, the overwhelming focus has been on early diagnosis and treatment of disease once it occurs.  This is certainly understandable; researchers must prioritize their efforts and resources and it is perfectly reasonable to focus first on those who are already ill.

However, it is impossible to "catch up" with the 1.3 million women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer around the world this year. The breast cancer epidemic is now so large that we simply must devote more research to discovery of the causes of breast cancer and focus on primary prevention.

It is part of the mission of the Breast Health & Healing Foundation to redirect the attention of the scientific community to discovery of the causes of breast cancer. 

Breast Health & Healing Foundation has identified the following research into the causes of breast cancer, work that we encourage and support:

• Is aberrant hypermethylation an early event in breast cancer? 
  Sullivan RF, New York University Cancer Institute, New York, NY
  
  
• SNP microarray analysis of genomic alterations in infiltrating ductal carcinoma and infiltrating lobular carcinoma. 
  Tan CC, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
  
  
• Apocrine metaplasia and the development of ER-negative breast cancer. 
  Lee S, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  Traditional Practice Alliance, Sacramento, CA
  
  
• Molecular alterations in columnar cell lesions of the breast. 
  Dabbs DJ, Magee-Women’s Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
  
  
• Protein acetylation and hormone-independent breast cancer. 
  Cui Y, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  
  
• Diet and global DNA methylation in breast cancer. 
  Germano PBMR, Universidad Federal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brasil
  
  
• Molecular pathogenesis of breast cancer in women of African ancestry. 
  Ikpatt OF, Usman Danfodio Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria
  Institute of Medical Research and Training, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
  
  
• Differential gene expression in normal breast tissue from African American and Caucasian women. 
  Field LA, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C
  
  
• 24.Genetic alterations associated with early hyperplastic precursors of breast cancer. 
  Lee S, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
  
  
• Lifestyle approaches to breast cancer risk reduction:  insights and opportunities.
  Bernstein L, USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA
  
  
• Risk factors in breast cancer, a myth – an Indian experience. 
  Pant CS, Col Pant’s Imaging Centre, New Delhi, Delhi, India

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