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Duke Oncologist Named as One of TIME's 100 Most Influential People

Dr. Kimberly Blackwell, a clinical oncologist at the Duke Cancer Institute and one of the country's leading breast cancer researchers, is included in this year's roster of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people. (See the story here.)Blackwell is professor of medicine and director of the breast cancer program at Duke Cancer Institute. Other activists, innovators and achievers named on the TIME list include President Barack Obama, basketball player Lebron James and entertainer Justin Timberlake. Dr. Blackwell has been involved in some of the most important research in breast cancer treatments in recent years. She was the principal investigator on a pivotal drug study announced last summer that resulted in FDA approval of a new treatment for advanced HER-2 positive breast cancer. In the TIME commentary about Blackwell's achievements, Sherry Lansing, the former chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures and co-founder of Stand Up to Cancer, noted that Blackwell called her, "one of the bright young stars in the field." Lansing said the brilliant work of Blackwell and scientists "gives us real hope that we may, at last, be turning the corner in the fight against cancer." In addition to her work in research, Blackwell is a caring clinician who manages a busy practice at the Duke Cancer Institute, focusing on complex breast cancer cases, including among women under age 40.