Patricia Ganz M.D. ’73

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Patricia Ganz M.D. '73 is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of cancer research, acclaimed for her pioneering work in the areas of quality of life for cancer survivors, quality of care for cancer patients and cancer prevention.

Long before the National Cancer Institute recognized it as a priority, Ganz was studying the consequences of cancer treatment on survivors and their families. She focused on breast cancer, a condition that many patients can be expected to survive for decades. She documented the effects of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy on the patients themselves and their relationships with their partners.

For the past decade, she has served as the director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. It has been acknowledged as the leading division amongst all the National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation. Ganz's leadership is key to this success.

Ganz is the founding director of UCLA's Family Cancer Registry. Individuals with a documented genetic predisposition to develop breast, ovarian, prostate or colon cancer enroll and receive genetic counseling, access to molecular testing and updates on prevention trials relevant to them and their family members.

Her contributions have been widely acknowledged by her peers, as evidenced by the national honors Ganz has received. In 1996 she was awarded the Avon Breast Cancer Leadership Prize. In 1998 she received the UCLA Medical Alumni & Aesculapians Professional Achievement Award. In 1999 she was awarded the American Cancer Society Professor of Clinical Research Award. Ganz is one of only eight people in the United States to hold the American Cancer Society clinical research professorship and is the first Professor of Survivorship awarded by the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Because of Ganz's outstanding contributions to the field, millions of cancer survivors will enjoy healthier and happier lives.