Sandra Swain
Visiting Professor
Sandra M. Swain, MD, is a professor of medicine and associate dean for research development at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), Washington DC USA. She is also the Vice-President of Genetic Medicine, MedStar Health since. Dr. Swain served as the medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MWHC from 2007-2016. Prior to this, she was a tenured principal investigator at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health and she served as head of the Breast Cancer Section and chief of the Cancer Therapeutics Branch.
Dr. Swain’s research is focused on clinical trials and translational studies in metastatic breast cancer, specifically HER2-positive disease. Her interests also include adjuvant therapy for breast cancer, cardiotoxicity of cancer treatments, and healthcare disparities. She is internationally recognised as a leader in breast cancer research and treatment. She has published more than 350 articles, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet, Lancet Oncology, and JAMA Oncology.
She has served on American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Board of Directors and is a past president (2012-2013). She is a member of the Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) Board of Directors of ASCO. She founded the Women Who Conquer Cancer subcommittee of the CCF Board which has supported over 95 grants to early career women investigators. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University. She has contributed as a clinical trialist to the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) for more than 30 years, as vice-chair of the Breast Committee and as a principal investigator of adjuvant trials for breast cancer and is currently a member of the NRG breast committee. She is on the Board of Directors of the NSABP as vice-chair. She is the vice-chair of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group and Visiting Faculty at the University of Oxford.
Dr. Swain received her medical degree from the University of Florida, Gainesville. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University and a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute.