Dr. Perou’s

Biography

Dr. Perou’s research crosses the disciplines of genomics, cancer biology, bioinformatics, epidemiology, and clinical trials. A major contribution of his has been in the characterization of the genomic diversity of breast tumors, which resulted in the discovery of the Basal-like/Triple-Negative Breast Cancer subtype. He and his colleagues demonstrated that breast cancers can be classified into at least five molecular subtypes, with his lab focusing particular attention on the Basal-like subtype. He is also elucidating the genetic causes that give rise to each subtype, modeling these events in Genetically Engineered Mouse Models, and then using these models to investigate tumor biology and the efficacy of new drugs and new drug combinations. Dr. Perou has also translated these molecular finding into human population-based studies; using a North Carolina population-based study (the Carolina Breast Cancer Study), he and his colleagues found that pre-menopausal African American women were diagnosed with Basal-like tumors approximately twice as often as those of European decent, thus providing insights into a cause of the observed racial outcomes disparities differences seen in the USA. Dr. Perou’s research crosses the disciplines of genomics, cancer biology, bioinformatics, epidemiology, and clinical trials. A major contribution of his has been in the characterization of the genomic diversity of breast tumors, which resulted in the discovery of the Basal-like/Triple-Negative Breast Cancer subtype. He and his colleagues demonstrated that breast cancers can be classified into at least five molecular subtypes, with his lab focusing particular attention on the Basal-like subtype. He is also elucidating the genetic causes that give rise to each subtype, modeling these events in Genetically Engineered Mouse Models, and then using these models to investigate tumor biology and the efficacy of new drugs and new drug combinations. Dr. Perou has also translated these molecular finding into human population-based studies; using a North Carolina population-based study (the Carolina Breast Cancer Study), he and his colleagues found that pre-menopausal African American women were diagnosed with Basal-like tumors approximately twice as often as those of European decent, thus providing insights into a cause of the observed racial outcomes disparities differences seen in the USA.

Research Interest

Dr. Perou has authored more than 330 peer reviewed articles, and is an inventor on multiple USA and European patents. He is the Faculty Director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC) Bioinformatics Group, and Co-Director of the LCCC Breast Cancer Research Program. He is a member of the ALLIANCE/CALGB Breast Committee, and Co-Chair of the Triple-Negative Working Group of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium. He is also the co-founder of two genomics-based biotechnology companies (Bioclassifier LLC and GeneCentric Therapeutics), both of which are focused on bringing genomic assays into the everyday cancer clinic to make improvements in personalized patient care.