Our Team
Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA
Breast Surgeon
Professor of Surgery and Radiology
Affiliate Faculty, Institute for Health Policy Studies
Co-Leader, Breast Oncology Program, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
Director, UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center
Biography
The Director of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center since 1996, Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, chose to specialize in breast cancer research and treatment because she saw great opportunities to advance our knowledge and treatment of breast cancer and to make a meaningful difference in the lives of women who have breast disease. She is a professor of both Surgery and Radiology at UCSF and co-leads the Breast Oncology Program, the largest of the UCSF Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center's multidisciplinary programs. She is also Associate Director of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center where she founded and leads the program in Translational Informatics. As part of this program, her research has focused on bioinformatics, medical and clinical informatics, systems integration, and clinical care delivery. Her overall vision is to develop state-of-the-art ways to care for and empower patients during their treatment.
Dr. Esserman received her undergraduate degree from Harvard, and her medical and surgical training from Stanford University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in breast oncology at Stanford in 1988, and received an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1993. She joined the UCSF faculty in 1993.
Dr. Esserman has received many honors for her work including a grant to establish a state-of-the-art breast center and breast cancer research foundation--one of three major Department of Defense grants awarded to in the United States in 1998. She is a leader in the I-SPY TRIAL collaboration, a National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Center for Bioinformatics and SPORE program. In Dr. Esserman's, groundbreaking initiative ATHENA, doctors and researchers from five UC medical centers are collaborating on the care of 150,000 women to understand why some develop breast cancer and to find more effective ways to customize prevention and treatment.
Dr. Esserman is a prolific writer with numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals covering all aspects of breast health including information systems, immunology, decision making, health policy and the use of imaging. She speaks extensively at public and private forums within the U.S. and internationally.
In her free time, Dr. Esserman likes to spend time with her family— husband Michael, her son Max and her daughter Marrisa. She also likes to sing, travel and hike.
Education
Stanford University, School of Medicine, MD, 1983
Stanford University, Graduate School of Business, MBA, 1993
Residencies
General Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1983-1985
General Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1988-1990
Chief Resident, General Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1990-1991
Fellowships
Oncology– Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, 1985-1988
Board Certification
American Board of Surgery, General Surgery, 1992
