Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD

Dr. Mittendorf's publications
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Education
Dr. Mittendorf is a graduate of Duke University where she earned a degree in Biomedical Engineering. She then completed her medical education at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine where she also completed a residency in General Surgery. She then served on active duty in the United States military before completing a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Mittendorf also holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston. She is board certified by the American Board of Surgery.
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Research Interests
Dr. Mittendorf is the Robert and Karen Hale Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is the Director of Research in Breast Surgery as well as the Director of the Breast Immuno-Oncology program at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center. She 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 numerous trials investigating cancer vaccines including the phase III PRESENT study evaluating a CD8 T cell-eliciting vaccine in the adjuvant setting, and an investigator-initiated multicenter phase II trial investigating vaccination in combination with trastuzumab in HER2-positive patients. This trial is supported by a prestigious Breakthrough Award from the Department of Defense.  Dr. Mittendorf is also the principal investigator on two investigator-initiated pre-surgical studies evaluating immune checkpoint blockade agents in breast cancer patients.  The current focus of her laboratory work is to determine the impact of standard and experimental therapies on immunologic aspects of the tumor microenvironment in order to inform rational trials of immunotherapeutic agents in breast cancer. She is also investigating novel targets for vaccine strategies. In addition to her work evaluating breast tumor immunology and immunotherapy, Dr. Mittendorf has published extensively on a multitude of subjects related to breast cancer and surgical management of the disease to include incorporation of biologic factors into staging, management of the axilla, and surgery following receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. 

Interests Outside of Lab
When she is not at work, Dr. Mittendorf enjoys running. In fact, she has completed more than 20 marathons.