Announcing the 2025 Basser Center for BRCA Impact Award
Alan D. D'Andrea of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has been recognized for leadership in cancer genetics.
The Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, the world’s first comprehensive center aimed at advancing research, treatment, and prevention of BRCA-related cancers, is honoring Alan D. D'Andrea, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with the 2025 BRCA Impact Award.
Individuals with mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are at an increased risk of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. The award was created to recognize a national leader in the field of cancer genetics and will be presented at the 14th annual Basser Center Scientific Symposium, taking place May 12-13, 2026.
“The BRCA Impact Award honors investigators whose insight and influence have profoundly advanced the science of cancer genetics,” said Susan M. Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA. “We are pleased to recognize Dr. D’Andrea, whose work continues to propel discovery that improves care for countless individuals and families.”
Key BRCA discoveries translate to new therapies
D’Andrea is the Fuller-American Cancer Society Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, the Director of the Center for DNA Damage and Repair, and the Director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is internationally recognized for his BRCA research, and his work is leading to significant improvements in drug development and in clinical care for BRCA-related cancers.
Specifically, D’Andrea is known for unraveling the Fanconi Anemia/BRCA pathway. His laboratory made the extraordinary discovery that proteins encoded by the Fanconi Anemia genes—which are associated with rare inherited bone marrow failure syndromes—act in a common pathway that intersects with BRCA1 and BRCA2. Biomarkers for this pathway have contributed significantly to the development of new anti-cancer drugs, such as PARP inhibitors. He also discovered two critical DNA repair targets, POLQ and USP1, required for the growth of BRCA1 or BRCA2-deficient tumors, leading to the development of new inhibitors currently being tested in clinical trials.
“It is my honor to receive this award from the Basser Center,” D’Andrea said. “I share the award with the families with inherited mutations BRCA1, BRCA2, and Fanconi Anemia Genes, who have been my close collaborators in my research.”
The BRCA Impact Award is generously supported by Shari Potter and Leonard Potter. The Basser Center was established in 2012 by University of Pennsylvania alumni Mindy and Jon Gray in memory of Mindy and Shari’s sister Faith Basser, who died of ovarian cancer at age 44.