Suzanne A.W. Fuqua

Suzanne A.W. Fuqua, PhD is a Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where she leads the Fuqua Lab as part of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center. Her research focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms of hormone resistance in breast cancer, with particular emphasis on somatic mutations in estrogen receptor alpha (ERα).

Dr. Fuqua was the first to discover alternatively spliced transcriptional isoforms and somatic mutations in breast tumors. Her laboratory has demonstrated that the K303R mutation alters multiple aspects of hormone action including binding to co-regulatory proteins, enhanced stability, estrogen hypersensitivity, response to tamoxifen, and resistance to aromatase inhibitors. The Y537N mutation, discovered by her team, represents a constitutively active receptor in metastatic breast tumors that likely confers resistance to estrogen deprivation therapies.

• Key Research Areas:
• Mechanisms of ERα mutations in breast cancer progression
• Hormone therapy resistance pathways
• Novel therapeutic development targeting mutated ERα
• Src kinase signaling in metastasis
• Protein phosphatases in tamoxifen resistance

Dr. Fuqua's research has significant implications for developing new treatment strategies for estrogen receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, potentially leading to improved management approaches for patients who develop resistance to standard endocrine therapies.

Scientific Recognition

• BCRF (Breast Cancer Research Foundation) Investigator since 2014
• The Kendra Scott Foundation Award in Honor of Holley Rothell Kitchen

Dr. Fuqua has mentored numerous postdoctoral fellows through the Breast Center Training Program, providing comprehensive translational research training. Her laboratory has received funding from NIH RO1 projects, the Baylor Breast SPORE, Astrazeneca, and Department of Defense Concept Awards. She teaches the Translational Breast Cancer Research Course and organizes Career Development Day as part of the training program.

The Fuqua Lab operates within a collaborative environment at the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, working closely with clinical and basic science researchers to advance breast cancer understanding and develop improved treatment strategies through weekly data review meetings and joint research initiatives.