Associate Professor Kara Britt leads the Breast Cancer Risk and Prevention Lab within the Cancer Evolution and Metastasis Program at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Kara’s PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular biology was centred around female reproductive endocrinology and the impact of estrogen on the ovary. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year (Science) and a Centenary medal for her groundbreaking research. She then undertook a CJ Martin fellowship at the Institute of Cancer Research (UK) under the mentorship of Alan Ashworth where she began working on breast cancer. A long term passion of Kara’s since her mother’s diagnosis.

Kara’s work has helped define why women in today’s society have an increased incidence of breast cancer; assessing the impacts of reproductive behaviours, genetics and obesity. Her lab focusses on the changes in the normal breast under these different risk conditions in an effort that this deep understanding can direct the development of novel preventative therapies. Her lab has also been instrumental in developing pre-clinical models for prevention based research in partnership with her clinical colleagues. In 2023 Kara founded the Prevention and Early Detection of Cancer Network which brings together consumers and health researchers across cancer types and disciplines to collaborate on the best pathways for the detection of tumours and development of precision prevention strategies/therapies.