Newsmaker: Jennifer R. Grandis

Jennifer R. Grandis

Age : 49

Residence : Shadyside

Occupation : Professor of otolaryngology and pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh; director of the head and neck program at Pitt's Cancer Institute

Family : Husband, Don, 51; son, Ben, 17; daughter, Anna, 15

Background : A graduate of Swarthmore College, Grandis earned her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where she completed her internship and residency. Her research interests include diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. She has been awarded two patents in this field and has a third pending.

Noteworthy : Grandis was principal investigator on a team of researchers that was awarded an $800,000 federal grant to develop agents to inhibit a cellular signaling protein that plays a key role in triggering and supporting the growth of many cancers.

Quote : "This grant is important. We've basically done all the work and came up with a really good idea. This grant is to validate those ideas. It provides resources to do discovery."