Newswise — DETROIT – Internationally renowned breast cancer surgeon Lisa A. Newman, M.D., MPH, has joined Henry Ford Health System to lead its metro Detroit breast cancer program and new international breast cancer research center.
She begins work this month as the director of the Breast Cancer Program at Henry Ford.
Dr. Newman comes to Henry Ford from the University of Michigan Health System, bringing with her two colleagues from U-M, and one from Moffitt Cancer Center, to join Henry Ford’s nationally recognized breast cancer team:
• Jessica Bensenhaver. M.D., a breast cancer surgeon specializing in benign and malignant breast diseases. Her research focuses on socioeconomic, geographic and ethnicity related variation in breast cancer, and features an outreach breast health program in Haiti. She received her medical degree from Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and completed a fellowship in breast oncology at U-M. Dr. Bensenhaver will begin seeing patients at Henry Ford in January.
• Dunya Attisha, M.D., a microvascular plastic and reconstructive surgeon with a special interest in restorative breast surgery. At Henry Ford, Dr. Attisha will offer flap reconstruction and surgical repair for lymphedema, a potential side effect of breast cancer surgery and radiation therapy that causes swelling in the legs or arms. She received her medical degree from Michigan State University and completed a fellowship in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Attisha will begin seeing patients at Henry Ford in February.
• Monique Swain, M.D., an obstetrics and gynecology surgeon who specializes in women at high risk for breast cancer due to abnormal genetics, including BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, and benign breast cancer patients. She manages gynecological side-effects of breast cancer treatment, including menopausal symptoms and sexual dysfunction; she also provides fertility preservation counseling for premenopausal breast cancer patients. Dr. Swain received her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine and completed her post-graduate training at DMC and U-M. She sees patients at Henry Ford Medical Center–New Center One in Detroit and Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.
This team brings more than 40 years combined experience in breast cancer care, allowing Henry Ford to expand its breast care services. They will join current Henry Ford surgical breast oncologists David Nathanson, M.D., and Erica Proctor, M.D.
Dr. Newman will perform breast cancer surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and Henry Ford West Bloomfield. She will oversee a multidisciplinary breast cancer conference and clinic each week at Henry Ford Medical Center-New Center One in Detroit and Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.
She’ll also serve as director of the Breast Cancer Global Health Research Program and founding medical director of the International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes at Henry Ford.
Leading the new international program will allow Dr. Newman to continue and grow her research on ethnicity-related variation in breast cancer, including triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease that disproportionally affects African American women and young patients.
Triple negative breast cancer has been a focus of Dr. Newman’s ongoing work in Ghana, where the majority of cases are triple negative. This research seeks to advance knowledge regarding the biologic and genetic origins of this disease. The international breast cancer program will include research partners at several hospitals in Ghana and Ethiopia, as well as Dr. Bensenhaver’s program in Haiti.
Dr. Newman will promote collaborative research domestically, as Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Adjunct Professor of Health Management Policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Dr. Newman’s work also focuses on promoting academic and advocacy organizations to better serve communities at home. She currently serves as Chief National Medical Advisor for the Sisters Network, Inc., a national African American breast cancer survivors organization.
She has held leadership roles with several other prominent academic and advocacy organizations such as the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association of Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. She has received numerous awards, including Michiganian of the Year in 2011, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation Hero Award in 2012, and the University of Michigan Harold R. Johnson Diversity Award in 2015.
Dr. Newman obtained her undergraduate and Masters of Public Health degrees from Harvard University. She attended medical school and completed her general surgery residency training at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, and completed her fellowship in surgical oncology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Prior to joining Henry Ford, Dr. Newman was professor of surgery and director of the Breast Care Center at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
For more information about the Josephine Ford Cancer Institute or to schedule an appointment, visit www.HenryFord.com/Cancer.
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