This month, Hoosier Cancer Research Network features our member institution Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Coral Omene, MD, PhD, medical oncologist at Rutgers Cancer Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Research Interests and Expertise:

Dr. Omene is a medical oncologist with a passion for women’s health who is dedicated to the care of treating and managing a diverse pool of breast cancer patients. She has devoted much of her research toward translating novel laboratory observations into discoveries to better care for breast cancer patients, with a particular focus on triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is known to be among the most aggressive breast cancers, with a poor prognosis, especially among African American women.

In recent years, Dr. Omene worked on an NIH K08 research project aimed at modifying the risk for developing TNBC using a natural compound derivative in a TNBC mouse model. This research has the potential to be readily translatable as chemoprevention in the clinical setting for TNBC patients and populations at high risk.

Currently, she is investigating potential molecular mechanism(s) by which biology and modifiable factors such as obesity, which is prevalent in African American women, interconnect to result in TNBC development and worse outcomes resulting in cancer disparities in African American women. Her goal is to develop interventional strategies, including clinical trials, that will help close the disparity gaps that exist in breast cancer treatment.

Dr. Omene is an active participant in clinical trials which are an essential mechanism in improving cancer care with newer and more effective treatments, including participation in the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium’s Breast Cancer Clinical Trial Working Group. She is the site Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials including an investigator-initiated (PI: Nancy Chan)  trial using Pembrolizumab and Fulvestrant in ER positive metastatic breast cancer which is run through the Big Ten CRC.

Educational Background:

• Medical School/Doctorate: Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons
• Residency: New York Presbyterian- Columbia
• Fellowship: New York University School of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center

Three facts about Dr. Omene:

• She loves to travel and has been to many countries.
• In her spare time, Dr. Omene loves to read political and spy thrillers.
• Until she was a teenager, she grew up being called a completely different name than her legally given name.

About Hoosier Cancer Research Network:

Hoosier Cancer Research Network (formerly known as Hoosier Oncology Group) conducts innovative cancer research in collaboration with academic and community physicians and scientists across the United States. The organization provides comprehensive clinical trial management and support, from conception through publication. Created in 1984 as a program of the Walther Cancer Institute, Hoosier Cancer Research Network became an independent nonprofit clinical research organization in 2007. Since its founding, Hoosier Cancer Research Network has conducted more than 230 trials in a variety of cancer types and supportive care, resulting in more than 350 publications. More than 9,000 subjects have participated in Hoosier Cancer Research Network clinical trials.