This year Dr. Joyce A. O’Shaughnessy celebrated 40 years of work in oncology, she’s described by her peers as a ‘legend’ in the ever-evolving world of breast cancer research and treatment.
Dr. Joyce A. O'Shaughnessy has been described by her peers at Baylor Scott and White as a “legend in the space” of breast cancer research and treatment.
Her expertise has been recognized internationally from her time at Yale Medical School to now, as she celebrated 40 years of work in oncology.
Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are
WATCH HERE“I got into oncology when my sister, my baby sister, back in 1970, was diagnosed with leukemia,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I just had this feeling that oncology was going to explode as a field in terms of what we understood and the treatments that we could give.”
Her path navigating four decades in breast cancer research has been calculated in a field that’s ever-evolving in more ways than one.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning with NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP She’s been on the leading edge of research in the field founding the School of Breast Oncology at Baylor Scott and White. It’s a program that provides a curriculum focused only on breast cancer clinical management.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy is the director of breast cancer research at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center and chair of the breast disease committee for the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Dallas. She is also on the Scientific Advisory Board of the U.S. Oncology Research Network and continues to lead numerous trials when it comes to women battling the disease.
“It’s fascinating the difference between the 1970s and today. It’s an absolutely remarkable testament to human ingenuity,” O’Shaughnessy said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
She said she spends half of her time in practice and half of her time in clinical trial work and so much of that is knowing most of the time, it won’t work out.
“We succeed through the failures. I see that something doesn’t work. Or how certain patients respond to the treatment. The point is to figure out what’s wrong quickly, so we can start working on something that will treat the cancer,” O’Shaughnessy said.
It’s all of that that keeps her going.
“There is always having the next best treatment to go to. It’s critically important to make sure that the oncologists and other providers, nurse practitioners and the physician assistants know the latest in the way of diagnostics and therapeutics and the trials that are available. This is what drives us forward. The progress [we continue to see],” O’Shaughnessy said.
Dr. O’Shaughnessy admits that success has come with sacrifice, especially when it comes to her family. She knows though, it has all been worth it. And now, she gets to watch her daughter as she follows in her footsteps as an oncologist.
