The Mariann T. and Robert J. MacDonald Professorship in Breast Cancer Care Excellence

Established in 2006, the Professorship is awarded to a breast cancer medical oncologist at the Abramson Cancer Center who exhibits clinical excellence through innovative treatments and outstanding patient care.

The gift expresses the MacDonalds’ gratitude for the care given by the Rena Rowan Breast Center and their desire to see breast cancer become a worry of the past for their daughter and granddaughter as well as for families everywhere.

Generous support from the MacDonalds also established the Kevin Reitnauer Fox, MD Professorship in Oncology as well as the Mariann and Robert MacDonald Cancer Risk Evaluation Center, including an endowed Directorship for the Center. The MacDonald Center provides genetic counseling for individuals with cancer or at an increased risk for cancer, and offers education and community outreach programs.

Mariann T. MacDonald co-founded and served as Executive Vice President of Operations for Endo Pharmaceuticals. Under her leadership, Endo, makers of Percocet and Percodan, became an international leader in the field of pain management. Robert J. MacDonald is the owner of Pieces, Inc., an art and accessory firm based in Naples, FL.

Mrs. MacDonald is Member Emerita of the Abramson Cancer Center Director’s Leadership Council and Penn Medicine Board.

Current Chairholder

Angela M. DeMichele, MD, MSCE

Dr. DeMichele is Professor of Medicine in medical oncology at the University of Pennsylvania where she holds the Mariann T. and Robert J. MacDonald Chair in Breast Cancer Research. She has co-led the Breast Cancer Research Program in the Abramson Cancer Center since 2005 and Co-Directs the 2-PREVENT Breast Cancer Translational Center of Excellence. She cares for breast cancer patients at the Rowan Breast Center of the University of Pennsylvania and her clinical excellence has been recognized with the Founders Award for Outstanding Patient Care from the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Foundation and Philadelphia Top Docs. She mentors oncology fellows and junior faculty as well as Masters and PhD candidates as a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Penn. Her research focuses on the development of novel therapeutics in the neoadjuvant setting, the role of inflammation in ER+ breast cancer, development of CDK4/6 inhibitors, and determining new approaches to identify and treat molecular residual disease to prevent recurrence. Her work has been funded by the NIH, DOD, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Komen Foundation, and many others. Nationally, she is the Chair of the Breast Committee in the ECOG/ACRIN Cooperative Group and serves on the NCI Breast Cancer Steering Committee. She currently serves as the 2024 ASCO Scientific Program Chair as well as co-chairing the ASCO Metastatic Breast Cancer Biomarker Guideline. She is also a member of the ESMO Early Breast Cancer Committee and ESMO guidelines. She is a member of the I-SPY Trial leadership team and Penn PI for the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium, where she also leads multicenter trials. Her work has been recognized with the Potamkin Prize for Breast Cancer Research from the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition and the 2023 Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Previous Chairholders

• Kevin R. Fox, MD 2006-2023
• Angela M. DeMichele, MD, MSCE 2014-2023