Lisa Carey

Academic History

Lisa Carey, MD, ScM, FASCO, is a Distinguished Professor in Breast Cancer Research in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Division Chief of Hematology and Oncology for the North Carolina Cancer Hospital, and Deputy Director for Clinical Science at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC. Prof. Carey graduated from Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, before receiving her medical degree from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, where she remained for her residency in Internal Medicine and her fellowship in Medical Oncology, followed by an advanced degree in Clinical Investigations.

Prof. Carey has served as a member of the National Cancer Institute Breast Cancer Steering Committee, Co-Chair of the NCI-sponsored Alliance Breast Committee, Co-Chair of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium Steering Committee, and member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In 2018, Dr Carey joined the Komen Scientific Advisory Board, and in 2025 she received the OncLive Giants of Cancer Care Award

Speaking on endocrine treatment in early breast cancer

Prof. Carey is an internationally recognized leader in clinical breast cancer research. Her work has been pivotal in defining molecular subtypes of breast cancer and exploring their implications for prognosis and therapeutic response, particularly in HER2-positive and triple-negative disease. She led a large NCI-sponsored trial in HER-2 positive breast cancer that examined dual HER2-targeting with two anti-HER2 drugs and found that tumor subtype and immune activation more strongly predict treatment outcome than drug choice alone. Based on this work, she has put together an international team investigating the molecular markers responsible for variation in response and survival, and her efforts have resulted in two further NCI trials examining these markers and optimizing treatment.