University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI)

Leadership

Maryann Donovan, PhD, MPH

Maryann Donovan, PhD, MPH is the Scientific Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology, Associate Director for Research Services at the UPCI, and a faculty member in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1982, Dr. Donovan completed her MPH in the Division of Environmental Sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. In 1986, she completed her PhD in the Department of Human Genetics and Development at Columbia University. Dr. Donovan's graduate studies focused on identifying the DNA sequences that were responsible for hemoglobin switching during human fetal development. As a post-doc, she identified the specific binding sites and purified proteins that interacted with these sequences to mediate hemoglobin switching. In 1989, Dr. Donovan was recruited to the University of Pittsburgh to join the Pathology Department, where she established her research laboratory to study the regulation of coagulation and fibrinolytic pathways in pathobiology, including tumor metastasis. In addition, Dr. Donovan also co-directed the first molecular diagnostic lab at the University of Pittsburgh/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she developed and validated assays for cancer diagnosis.