Dr. Nancy E. Davidson leads the way at
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Center
By Ben Boskovich | Photography by Cayla Zahoran
Dr. Nancy E. Davidson, photographed in The Atrium at the Shadyside Medical Center.
After her first year as a medical student at Harvard University, Nancy E. Davidson took a summer job in a laboratory that focused on breast cancer research — and it piqued her interest so much that she decided to devote her life to thinking about breast cancer as a disease. “The science, then and now, is so exciting, and the understanding of the science of breast cancer goes directly into how we think about its care,” Dr. Davidson says.
As she became more involved with studying breast cancer, Dr. Davidson began to understand that a lot of the principles of her study stood true for all forms of cancer. She realized she would be most effective in a leadership role that took at broad look at cancer research and innovation.
Three years ago, Dr. Davidson became Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the UPMC Cancer Centers. “The academic side in the University is terrific, and the medical school is one of the top schools in the country,” she says. “I think that when you’re interested in taking science to the clinic, that’s not enough. You have to take it out into the community.”
Dr. Davidson says that these world-class institutions allow her the chance to really think about how to take research from the bench to the laboratory to the bedside and out to the community where people live. “I think it’s an almost unparalleled model in the U.S., so that makes it a very exciting place to work,” she says.
The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute just finished celebrating its 25th anniversary, and 2012 is the 10-year anniversary of the Shadyside campus, the focal point for cancer activity. The institution plans to open the Mario Lemieux Blood Cancer Center, which is currently being renovated, and is also busy upgrading its research capabilities.
The opportunity to keep upgrading and watch cancer research evolve excites Dr. Davidson. “I’m ecstatic,” she says. “I’m hoping, and I tell everybody this, everyday, that 10 years from now we will have even another set of things to talk about, some of which I might be able to predict now, but some of them which I hope are going to be so new that they’re not even on my horizon right now. I think it’s quite possible we’re on a steep upward trajectory right now, and it’s a very exciting time.”
Something that Dr. Davidson and others in the field of oncology are thankful for is the fact that science has evolved so much throughout their tenure. For example, the 40th anniversary of the National Cancer Act was just passed. It’s a bill that strengthened the national effort against cancer in 1971 and the 10th Anniversary of the first DNA sequencing of the human genome. “What that reflects is that we’re in a time where we can take advantage of such great science and so much technological expertise now,” she says.
Caring for cancer is becoming more individualized as the years go by because of such evolutions in science and technology. “We can really begin to think about what we call ‘personalized cancer medicine,’” she says. “If we can understand the abnormalities of the individual’s cancer, and what makes that cancer tick, we can understand something about that individual because all people are different.”
Cancer and cancer mortality are already dropping, and Dr. Davidson is hopeful that the trend will continue. “Of course, I’d like to retire because there’s no more cancer for us to take care of,” she says. “That’s maybe a little optimistic, but during the course of my career, you’ve seen some pretty major inroads.”
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, 5150 Centre Ave., Shadyside. 412.647.2811. upci.upmc.edu.
