Pepper J. Schedin, PhD Associate Professor Education: University of Colorado, Boulder, CO-1989 University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine Division of Medical Oncology Tel: (303) 724-3873 Fax: (303) 724-3889 e-mail: pepper.schedin@uchsc.edu

Bio
Dr Schedin was recruited to the clinical breast cancer program at UCHSC in 2004 for her expertise in the fields of breast cancer prevention and stromal-epithelial interactions.

Research
The Schedin Lab is focused on developing breast cancer chemopreventive strategies that are targeted to specific windows of breast development. Our approach is to understand the role of mammary extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in mediating epithelial cell death during key windows of normal mammary gland differentiation, such as adolescent mammary gland development, the estrous cycle, and the pregnancy, lactation, and involution cycle. Major areas of investigation include adolescent mammary development, mammary epithelial cell/stromal interactions, tissue remodeling, mammary carcinogenesis, and chemoprevention using rodent and 3-dimensional culture models and human tissue. Current Research Projects Include: 1) Determining the role of physiologic tissue remodeling in promoting metastasis in pregnancy-associated breast cancer. 2) Identifying the ECM proteomes of the ‘breast-cancer protected’ and ‘at-risk’ mammary gland to identify stromal mediators of tumor cell dormancy and metastasis, and 3) identify dietary interventions targeted to puberty that result in the development of mammary tissue resistant to carcinogenic insult.