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Program

The HCC Breast Users Committee and Resources for Research

The Breast Users Committee is the supervising body for use of the breast cancer data and/or specimens from the HCC. 

Composition: The Users Committee will be composed of at least one member from each participating organization which includes Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Massachusetts General Hospital, representing the disciplines of pathology, surgery, and medical oncology, radiation oncology and biostatistics.  Members will be appointed by the chairs with no pre-specified term limits. The current membership is presented below. 

Purpose: The members of the HCC Breast Users Committee are charged with reviewing the feasibility and scientific validity of proposed clinical and health services research, qualitative improvement (QI) projects, and translational and laboratory-based projects using the specimens and clinical data available through HCC breast cancer-focused research protocols. The committee also recommends a review of qualitative studies and surveys being implemented within HCC as it relates to breast cancer that will require the use HCC investigator platforms (e.g., if a researcher needs to use existing datasets to identify and contact patients).  

Scope: All research using clinical data and/or biospecimens from breast cancer patients treated at any of the participating institutions must be reviewed by the Users Committee and is subject to a required annual renewal process for ongoing projects.  Generally exempt from this scope are studies that are pre-specified in prospective therapeutic clinical trials or which include IRB-approved amendments to existing protocols by the primary research team for that database or specimen bank.  For example, use of archival tissue specimens for the purpose of assessing a pre-specified biomarker to determine eligibility into an IRB-approved clinical trial does not require additional Users Committee approval to proceed.  In contrast, secondary use of clinical data and/or biospecimens from clinical trials not explicitly specified in the original IRB-approved protocol is subject to Users Committee review.

Project Proposals

Investigators within HCC must submit a RedCap form directly to HCC Breast Users Committee for access to curated clinical data and/or specimens collected within HCC Breast. Depending on whether the request for clinical data and/or specimen is for deidentified or identified patient-level information, the submission of your research project will have different requirements related to the User Committee proposal and the type of IRB applications.

For questions related to these requirements, please contact Melissa Hughes (Melissa_hughes@dfci.harvard.edu).

Users Committee Members

  • HCC Breast Users Committee Members

    Co-chairs

    • Nancy Lin, MD, DFCI
    • Deborah Dillon, MD, BWH
    • Laura Collins, MD, BIDMC

    Associate Chair

    • Daniel Abravanel, MD, PhD

    Users Committee Members

    • Joanna Baginska
    • Leif Ellisen, MD PhD, MGH
    • Rachel Freedman, MD, DFCI
    • Judy Garber, MD, MPH, DFCI
    • Steven Isakoff, MD, PhD, MGH
    • Rinath Jeselsohn, MD, PhD
    • Filipa Lynce, MD
    • Erica Mayer, MD, MPH
    • Beth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, BWH
    • Beverly Moy, MD; MGH
    • Heather Parsons, MD, MPH
    • Ann Partridge, MD, MPH
    • Stuart Schnitt, MD, BIDMC
    • Dennis C. Sgroi, MD, MGH
    • Nabihah Tayob, PhD, DFCI
    • Sara Tolaney, MD, DFCI
    • Nadine Tung, MD, BIDMC
    • Adrienne Waks, MD
    • Laura Warren, MD
    • Jean Zhao, PhD, DFCI 

    Proposals Involving Use of Oncomap/Oncopanel Data

    A smaller subset of the HCC Breast Users Committee will review all proposals involving use of Oncomap and/or Oncopanel data in breast cancer patients.

    This committee is structured as follows:

    Co-chairs

    • Nancy Lin, MD
    • Deborah Dillon, MD 

    Members

    • Tari King, MD
    • Erica Mayer, MD, MPH
    • Heather Parsons, MD, MPH

    Ad-hoc Members

    • Jennifer Bellon, MD (as needed for proposals involving local therapy questions)
    • Judy Garber, MD, MPH (as needed for germline genetics expertise)

    Proposals Involving Qualitative and Survey Studies

    A smaller subset of HCC Breast Users Committee will review all proposals involving the use of qualitative and survey study in breast cancer patients. The committee will review for the validity and feasibility of such studies within our department and clinic and ensure that there is coordination and no redundancy from the perspective of our patients.

    This committee is structured as follows:

    Chair

    • Rachel Freedman, MD, MPH 

    Members

    • Tari King, MD 
    • Ann Partridge, MD, MPH 
    • Nancy Lin, MD 
    • Christine J. McLaughlin

    Ad-hoc Members

    • Jennifer Bellon, MD (as needed for proposals involving local therapy questions) 
    • Judy Garber, MD, MPH (as needed for germline genetics expertise)
    • Michael Hassett, MD, MPH 
    •  Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH