Dr. Laura Esserman talks about the future of personalized medicine for cancer patients. Dr. Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, is an internationally-recognized visionary in personalized medicine, revolutionizing breast cancer screening and treatment as the Director of the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center. Her work is devoted to developing new, more effective ways to care for and empower breast cancer patients during treatment, and she tailors treatments for individual patients using biology, personal preference, and constant feedback regarding outcomes of care. She led the creation of the University of California-wide Athena Breast Health Network, a learning system designed to integrate clinical care and research as it follows 150,000 women from screening through treatment and outcomes. The Athena Network launched the PCORI-funded Wisdom Study, which tests a personalized approach to breast cancer screening in 100,000 women. She is also a leader of the innovative I-SPY TRIAL model, designed to accelerate the identification and approval of effective new agents for women with high risk breast cancers. In 2020, she got FDA approval for an I-SPY Covid trial, designed to rapidly screen and confirm high impact treatments to reduce mortality and time on ventilators. Her breast cancer work spans a spectrum from basic science to public policy issues and the impact of both on the delivery of clinical care. She has published over 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals covering all aspects of breast health, including information systems, immunology, decision making, health policy, and the use of imaging. Her goal is to give patients better access to accurate information so that they become partners in their health care. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx