Professor of Surgery
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Dr. Elizabeth Mittendorf is the Robert and Karen Hale Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is also Co-Leader of the Breast Program for the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and Director of the Breast Cancer Immunotherapy Program. Dr. Mittendorf received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University where she also completed a General Surgery residency. She served in the US military before completing a Surgical Oncology fellowship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. She remained on faculty at MD Anderson from 2008-2017 before moving to Boston and the Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center in 2018. Dr. Mittendorf also holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Texas and a Masters in Healthcare Management from Harvard.
Dr. Mittendorf focuses her clinical and laboratory efforts on the study of breast cancer with a specific interest in immunotherapy. She has been the principal investigator on several trials investigating CD8+ T cell eliciting vaccines based on preclinical data generated in her laboratory. More recently she led the phase III IMpassion031 study that showed an increase in the pCR rate when the immunotherapeutic agent Atezolizumab was given in the preoperative setting for triple negative breast cancer patients. Her current laboratory work is investigating the impact of standard and experimental therapies on immunologic aspects of the tumor microenvironment. Dr. Mittendorf has also published extensively on subjects related to breast cancer and surgical management to include incorporation of biologic factors into staging, management of the axilla, and surgery following receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.