MammaPrint^®: Developed for Women, by a Woman.

Dr. Laura van `t Veer's pioneering work has been widely acknowledged within the scientific community, earning her the Lifetime Achievement Award for Translational Cancer Research from the European Society of Medical Oncology. She has also received accolades from the public sector including Oprah Winfrey recognizing her work on MammaPrint as one of the “five biggest health breakthroughs by women scientists” of all-time.

In a world where researchers and clinicians rarely cross paths, Dr. Laura van `t Veer is both. She has an extensive background in cancer biology and molecular oncology, completing her postdoctoral studies at such prestigious institutions as Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and earning her PhD at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. After joining the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), Dr. van `t Veer began a dialogue with surgeons, medical oncologists and radiologists to address a pressing medical need: the treatment of early stage breast cancer.

Dr. van `t Veer focused her research on developing a breast cancer gene expression test with which she and other scientists could analyze multiple tumor genes and their relationship with one another. Through rigorous discovery and validation studies, Dr. van 't Veer and an expert team of scientists identified 70 critical genes involved in breast cancer metastasis, which comprise the MammaPrint gene signature, with the intent of predicting the risk of metastatic disease. In the clinical setting, this translated into reducing unnecessary chemotherapy for women at low risk of metastasis, while at the same time helping identify high risk women who may benefit from therapy.

Dr. van `t Veer played a pivotal role in developing one of the key advances in women's healthcare of our time —by a woman and for women throughout the world. Today, she is the Chief of the Diagnostic Oncology Division at The Netherlands Cancer Institute.