Rachel Schiff PhD

Dr. Schiff is Associate Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, Sue & Lester Smith Breast Center and the Departments of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biology. She is an internationally recognized expert in breast cancer translational research and in preclinical therapeutic models, especially concerning endocrine, HER2, and additional targeted therapies.

Dr. Schiff received her PhD in 1992 from Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem and had completed her post-doctoral fellowship at University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. She joined Baylor College of Medicine in 1999 as a faculty member of the Sue & Lester Smith Breast Center.

Dr. Schiff's research focuses on understanding key signaling pathways in breast cancer and on identifying therapeutic strategies to overcome them. Major interests include molecular aspects of estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2 action in breast cancer, the crosstalk between the ER signaling network and growth factor receptor and cellular kinase pathways, the role of ER co-regulators in breast cancer development and progression, mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies, and the identification of biomarker and signatures of hormonal and anti-HER2 therapy resistance for therapeutic interventions.

Dr. Schiff's research is partly supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, BCRF, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.