Sofia Diana Merajver (born 1953) is an American-Argentine medical oncologist. She is the GreaterGood Breast Cancer Research Professor and director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program at

Michigan Medicine The University of Michigan Medicine (branded as Michigan Medicine) is the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It consists of the university's Medical School, affiliated hos ...

. In 2022, Merajver was elected a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

Early life and education

Merajver was born in 1953 to a Jewish family in Argentina. She enrolled at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

to study mathematics and physics but eventually left her home country due to the

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

. Upon leaving Argentina for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the age of 19, Merajver enrolled at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

(UMD). She completed her PhD in physics at UMD in 1979 and published her thesis ''Phase transitions in biomembranes: a random walk model.'' Following her PhD, Merajver accepted a post-doctoral fellowship in biological physics at the

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Located in Washington, DC, it was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, appl ...

where she attempted to devise membranes to encapsulate hemoglobin protein so artificial blood could be produced for the military. Merajver then earned her

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

in 1987 from

and completed her

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

and

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

at the same institution.

Career

Following her residency and fellowship, Merajver joined the faculty at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

where she founded the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Evaluation Program. She also became the director of the Breast and Ovarian Risk Evaluation Clinic at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. As an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

in 1999, she oversaw a research study that led to the identification of genes that may control the development of inflammatory breast cancer. She was also promoted to the rank of

Full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

of Internal Medicine. Upon accepting her new role, Merajver helped lead clinical and laboratory investigations of the drug tetrathiomolybdate, including a Phase II trial for advanced breast cancer patients. During the trial, Merajver discovered that the drug showed evidence of tumor stabilization in patients whose copper levels were reduced to one-fifth of their original levels for three months or more. Following this, Merajver found that the protein RhoC was a key driver of inflammatory breast cancer and early detection could prevent them from spreading. Her research team subsequently became the first to show that RhoC was also involved in breast cancer and could transform cells into cancerous ones with metastatic potential. Later, Merajver's research team used experimental data from the

MAPK/ERK pathway The MAPK/ERK pathway (also known as the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK pathway) is a chain of proteins in the cell (biology), cell that communicates a signal from a Receptor (biochemistry), receptor on the surface of the cell to the DNA in the nucleus of the cel ...

to develop a new mathematical model for scientists to learn which cellular processes are key in many diseases. As her tenure at UMich continued, Merajver continued to examine the impact of RhoC and found that when the gene interacted with the cell's machinery at a molecular level it regulates how it produces energy. Following this, Merajver was named the recipient of the 2016–17 Sarah Goddard Power Award as someone "who demonstrate scholarship, leadership and support of women faculty, staff and students." Merajver continued her drug research and developed a dual inhibitor technology for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer which alters the cellular localization of c-Strc/p38 kinase and decreases the accessibility of their regulatory domains. As a result of her oncological research, Merajver was appointed the inaugural GreaterGood Breast Cancer Research Professor in Spring 2021. The following year, she was elected a Fellow of the

for "landmark studies of mechanisms, novel therapies and biomarkers, and management of patients with inflammatory breast cancers and women at increased risk for cancers in the United States and Africa."

Personal life

In 2017, Merajver was diagnosed with breast cancer but has since entered remission.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merajver, Sofia Living people 1953 births American oncologists Argentine oncologists University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Michigan alumni University of Michigan faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science American people of Argentine-Jewish descent University of Buenos Aires alumni