Tulane University School of Medicine Welcomes Metastatic Breast Cancer Researcher Tiffany Seagroves, MBA, PhD, PMP
Tiffany Seagroves, MBA, PhD, PMP, has joined Tulane University School of Medicine as a Professor in the John W. Deming Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology.
Dr. Seagroves comes to Tulane from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), where she rose through the academic ranks from Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (2005-2012), to Associate Professor with tenure (2012-2019), to Professor with tenure (2019 – 2024).
She also was Associate Vice Chancellor for Research (VCR) there (2015-2024) and served as a member of the VCR Research Cabinet advisory committee for several years (2016-2023). Additionally, she oversaw UTHSC’s Molecular Resource Center, a genomics institutional core facility, while serving as its Executive Director (2014-2024).
Over her 19 years at UTHSC, Dr. Seagroves established an internationally recognized research program in metastatic breast cancer, focusing, among other things, on how cellular response to changes in environmental oxygen concentration promotes tumor progression, metastasis and treatment resistance. Her more recent collaborations with Dr. Wei Li, medicinal chemist in the College of Pharmacy at UTHSC, involved screening the safety and efficacy of a variety of novel tubulin inhibitors – drugs that disrupt microtubules, the structures that pull the chromosomes apart when a cell divides.
In conjunction with Tulane University School of Medicine’s partnership in the Louisiana Cancer Research Center (LCRC), Dr. Seagroves will be assuming the role of co-lead of the LCRC’s Cancer Biology Research Program, serving along with colleagues from LSU and Xavier University. Dr. Seagroves succeeds Hua Lu, MB, PhD, Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Reynolds and Ryan Families Chair in Translational Cancer Research at Tulane, in this LCRC leadership position. Dr. Lu’s guidance, vision and service as co-lead were pivotal to the program’s progress and are greatly appreciated.
Dr. Seagroves arrives at Tulane with several active research grants, including a Mary Kay Ash Foundation Translational Research Award, for which she serves as principal investigator, that supports her investigations into the mechanisms through which inhibition of creatine kinase activity impacts breast cancer brain metastasis ($100,000 total costs, 7/01/2022 – 6/30/2024), and a National Cancer Institute R01 – Targeting Brain and Bone Metastases in Metastatic Breast Cancer for Improved Patient Survival – for which she serves as a co-principal investigator along with Dr. Wei Li ($2.4 million direct costs, 5/01/2023 – 4/30/2028).
Dr. Seagroves received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1994) and her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston (1999). She pursued postgraduate training in tumor biology via a Susan G. Komen Foundation Breast Cancer Research Fund Fellowship (2000-2001) and a Department of Defense Breast Cancer Postdoctoral Fellowship (2001-2004). She also completed her MBA, with concentrations in Food and Drug Law and Marketing, at San Diego State University in 2003 and became a certified Project Management Professional in 2023.
Her long list of awards and honors include the Claude W. Smith Fellowship Award for Outstanding Graduate Research at Baylor College of Medicine (1998), the National Cancer Institute Ruth L. Kerchstein Postdoctoral Fellowship (1999-2000), serving on the American Cancer Society Regional Board of Directors – Mid-South Division (2011-2016), and presidency of the Southeastern Association of Shared Resources (2021-2022).
Dr. Seagroves has served as scientific reviewer for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research and Peer-Reviewed Medically Directed Research Programs, National Cancer Institute study sections, and a number of other private, state and federal grant proposal review panels.
She is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, Women in Cancer Research, Association of Biomolecular Research Facilities, Metastasis Research Society, Endocrine Society, and the Southeastern Association of Shared Resources. She also serves on the Editorial Boards for Breast Cancer Research and Endocrinology, and she is a reviewer for several other scientific journals. She has been invited to speak at academic institutions and at a number of scientific meetings across the globe and has published numerous invited reviews, book chapters and manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Two members of Dr. Seagroves’s UTHSC lab team are accompanying her on her move to Tulane. Dr. Hilaire Smith, Instructor of Medicine at UTHSC, and Dr. Raisa Krutilina, Senior Research Scientist there, both have expertise in medicinal chemistry and pre-clinical animal models of metastatic breast cancer and will be continuing their work in the Seagroves lab here at Tulane.
"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Seagroves to our team,” said Tulane Cancer Center Director Stefan Grant, MD, JD, MBA. “Her groundbreaking work in metastatic breast cancer research has not only advanced our understanding of this complex disease but also paves the way for new, life-saving treatments. Dr. Seagroves brings a wealth of knowledge, innovative thinking, and a passion for patient-centered research that aligns perfectly with our institution's mission. We are confident that she will not only elevate our research capabilities but also foster collaborations that will drive significant advancements in cancer care.”
Tulane Cancer Center Welcomes Sarah Bigelow
as Executive Director of the Clinical Trials Office
Sarah Bigelow, CCRP, has joined the Tulane Cancer Center as Executive Director of the Clinical Trials Office (CTO). Sarah brings an extensive background and a proven record of leadership in oncology clinical research to this pivotal role.
In her new position, Sarah will provide senior leadership and strategic direction for the development and growth of the Tulane Cancer Center CTO. Her responsibilities include overseeing the full lifecycle of oncology clinical research protocols, from feasibility to budget and contract management to subject enrollment and trial closeout activities. Sarah also will establish continuous improvement initiatives that will enhance clinical trial activation, study accessibility, billing compliance, data quality, and participant safety at the Tulane Cancer Center. The recruitment, training, supervision, and evaluation of staff, as well as compliance with Institutional Review Board standards, HIPAA, ICH Good Clinical Practice guidelines, FDA regulations, and other regulatory requirements also will be under her purview.
Sarah joins Tulane from the NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center at Wayne State University, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, located in Detroit, Michigan. Over a ten-year tenure at Karmanos, Sarah held various leadership positions, most recently, as Vice President of the Clinical Trials Office. Her responsibilities included the oversight and coordination of over 150 clinical research professionals and supervision of protocol compliance, regulatory and data management, budget management, research nurse operations, personnel, and faculty training and education. Additionally, she oversaw the administrative and financial operations of a statewide clinical research oncology program.
Sarah began her career in clinical research at the Perinatology Research Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (2008-2014). There, she managed branch-wide projects and was part of a team that was awarded a 10-year, multi-million-dollar NICHD contract.
Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in health services administration from Baker College for Online and Graduate Studies. She is also a Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) through the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA).
Throughout her career, Sarah has been an active contributor to the field of clinical research, with numerous abstracts presented at prestigious national conferences, including the Association of American Cancer Institutes Clinical Research Initiatives Annual Meeting and the Society of Clinical Research Associates Annual Meeting.
"We are excited to have Sarah on board," said Tulane Cancer Center Director Stefan Grant, MD, JD, MBA. "Her experience and proven leadership in cancer clinical research make her uniquely qualified to lead our Clinical Trials Office. We are confident that her vision and expertise will significantly enhance our clinical trials program, helping us streamline operations, expand our clinical research capabilities, and provide more treatment options to our patients. We look forward to seeing all that she and her team will accomplish.”
