The Bennett Family Distinguished Lecture Series 2016

Dr. MINa J. bissell

EMT, Metastasis and Cancer stem cells

Dr. Bissell is a pioneer in the area of the role of extracellular matrix (ECM) and microenvironment in regulation of tissue-specific function with special emphasis in breast cancer. She earned an A.B. with honors in chemistry from Harvard College and a Ph.D. in bacterial genetics from Harvard University. She joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1972, and was appointed Director of Life Sciences in 1992. Upon stepping down as the Life Sciences Division Director, she was named Distinguished Scientist. She is also the OBER/DOE Distinguished Scientist Fellow in Life Sciences.

Dr. Bissell has authored more than 380 publications, is a member of nine international scientific boards, and is on the editorial board of a dozen scientific journals. She has given more than 120 „named and distinguished‟ lectures. Her awards include the Lawrence Award and medal, the Mellon Award from the University of Pittsburgh, the Eli Lilly/Clowes Award from AACR, the first “Innovator Award” of the US DOD for breast cancer research, the Brinker Award from Komen Foundation, the Discovery Health Channel Medical Honor and medal, the Pezcoller Foundation–AACR International Award for Cancer Research, the Excellence in Science Award from FASEB, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's Jill Rose Award and the Susan Bulkeley Butler Leadership Excellence Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.Dr. Bissell was elected as a Fellow of the AAAS, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society,the Royal Society of Chemistry,the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2013 was inducted into the inaugural class of Fellows in the AACR Academy. She has served as President of the American Society of Cell Biology and the International Society of Differentiation.