Dr. Sofia D. Merajver is an expert in clinical and translational research and breast cancer genetics with multidisciplinary research interests in the molecular genetics of breast cancer, molecular translational research, novel therapeutics, environmental and lifestyle modifiers of risk, gene function, clinical cancer risk assessment, international breast cancer research and prevention, and global health of non-communicable disease, all of which are represented in her nearly 300 publications. Her laboratory studies aggressive forms of breast cancer, with inflammatory breast cancer being the primary model. Her research is both clinical and translational. Dr. Merajver laboratory has discovered genetic alterations that contribute to an especially malignant phenotype of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). They have isolated and characterized two markers specific for inflammatory breast cancer: a novel transforming oncogene RhoC-GTPase and a tumor suppressor gene termed WISP3, which is a low affinity IGF-binding protein. The laboratory has embarked on the study of RhoC signaling in single live cells utilizing laser spectroscopic techniques and mathematical modeling. Dr. Merajver has designed, conducted, and supervised Phase I, II, and III interventional therapeutic trials and Phase III prevention trials. In recent years, Dr. Merajver has built a mathematical modeling research portfolio that focuses on theoretical and experimental approaches to understanding the integration between cellular signaling and metabolism in cancer, as well as the development of predictive biomarkers of drug response to conventional and targeted therapies. Dr. Merajver and colleagues are studying polymorphisms and mutations in new candidate tumor suppressor genes and their relationship to breast cancer risk in non-BRCA 1/2 families. Dr. Merajver has a portfolio of projects ranging from molecular genetics to epidemiology to clinical care that she organizes in international settings. In her tenure as Director of the university-wide center for Global Health, Dr. Merajver helped define the global health agenda for the University of Michigan and has created multi-lateral and multi-disciplinary platforms of research and education engagement in global health equity. Dr. Merajver is actively engaged in health disparities research ranging from molecular determinants of untoward outcomes in African Americans and economically disadvantaged minorities to low resource world populations in Africa and Latin America. She is especially well known as an educator and dedicated mentor of postdoctoral and pre-doctoral students and of junior faculty at the UM Medical School and the School of Public Health and at many institutions worldwide, where her former trainees are engaged in scientific work and leadership. Dr. Merajver has trained over 140 scientists in her career, 60 of whom are pre-doctoral or post-doctoral and 100% of them are engaged in cancer research at academic institutions, government, and industry. She has received numerous honors and awards and Dr. Merajver is the only faculty member in the University of Michigan Medical School who has received both the Dean’s Basic Science Research Award and the MICHR Distinguished Translational Mentor Award.