A breast oncologist and researcher, Carmen Calfa, M.D., is driven not only to solve clinical problems and improve treatments, but also to advocate for the emotional needs of her patients and their families. In her interrelated roles at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Calfa supports everyone from “previvors” — people with a high risk of developing cancer because of genetic mutations — to people who are decades into survivorship.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive and hardest forms of breast cancer to treat, but a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine suggests a surprising way to stop it from spreading. Researchers have discovered that an enzyme called EZH2 drives TNBC cells to divide abnormally, which enables them to relocate to distant organs. The preclinical study also found drugs that block EZH2 could restore order to dividing cells and thwart the spread of TNBC cells.