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Dr. Donna Hansel,
MD, PhD
Dr. Hansel is a
physician-scientist who studies the
molecular pathogenesis of bladder
cancer and she is currently an
Assistant Professor in Pathology at
the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College
of Medicine of the Case Western
Reserve University. Dr. Hansel
received a BA degree from the Johns
Hopkins University in Biology and
subsequently received a Medical
Scientist Training Program grant
from the Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine to complete her MD/PhD
training. She performed her PhD
studies in the Department of
Neuroscience, where she studied the
role of amidated neuropeptides on
olfactory neuronal growth and
migration. Her successful completion
of these studies won her the David
I. Macht Award from the School of
Medicine and resulted in several
publications in Nature and Science.
Upon completion of
her MD/PhD training, she studied the
role of OCT family members in
peripheral nerve myelination at
Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The
Netherlands for one year, after
which she joined the Pathology
Department at the Johns Hopkins
Hospital for residency and
fellowship training in genitourinary
pathology. Dr. Hansel joined the
faculty at the Cleveland Clinic
Lerner College of Medicine in 2006,
where she currently holds
appointments in Anatomic Pathology,
the Glickman Urological and Kidney
Institute and the Taussig Cancer
Institute and where she co-directs
the institutional bladder cancer
working group and oversees the
pathology curriculum at the School
of Medicine. Her interest in
growth-promoting factors has led her
to expand her studies from the
nervous system to the field of
cancer biology, and Dr. Hansel's
laboratory currently studies the
function of EGFR and the AKT pathway
in bladder cancer.
Dr. Hansel's interest
in the implementation of programs to
promote the success of early-career
physician-scientists began during
her period of transition from
clinical training to faculty. During
her tenure as Chair of the Associate
Member Council of the American
Association for Cancer Research, she
organized several symposia to
address the needs of early-career
physician-scientists, including the
role of mentorship, job opportunity
searches and negotiation for
start-up packages. She has
subsequently provided input to the
Association of Professors of
Medicine, where she has shared her
experiences and challenges in the
transition from residency and
fellowship training to a junior
faculty position in order to promote
increased awareness and support for
early career physician scientists
and to emphasize the need for
programs that allow successful
transition and ongoing support for
those who undertake this unique
career pathway. |
