Mark Powell, MD, MPH
Independent Researcher

Mark worked with the Marin Women’s Study from 2004-14 focusing on the high breast cancer rates seen in Latinas in Marin, improving methods of determining the risk status of individual women, and investigating the protective effect on breast cancer risk of experiencing a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP). Since 2014 Mark has collaborated with Dr. Christopher Benz of the Buck Institute and published data demonstrating up to 90% lower rates in women with a history of HDP carrying a specific common gene variant. This has led to several additional studies defining the mechanism of this naturally occurring protection, and the formation of the Breast Cancer Prevention Project in an effort to develop badly needed novel breast cancer prevention strategies.