Board of Directors

Dr. Martina Albright holds a B.A. in English Literature from Harvard College and a master's degree and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from New York University. After many years working as a consultant to the Foundation, she stepped into the leadership role in 2019 and now guides its mission of funding cancer research across Boston-area labs.

Oliver Robinson has been part of the Foundation since 2002, when he began working as a freelance computer consultant, and has since grown into a management role, serving as Director and Treasurer. He holds a B.A. from American University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Whitfield Growdon is a gynecologic oncologist and surgeon at the Mass General Cancer Center, where he treats patients with cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancers using minimally invasive and robotic surgical techniques. A graduate of Williams College and UMass Chan Medical School, he completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology and a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research focuses on the molecular drivers of endometrial and ovarian cancers, and he has authored dozens of peer-reviewed publications in the field.

Dr. Harry Orf is the retired Senior Vice President for Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he oversaw the largest hospital-based research enterprise in the country. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Missouri–St. Louis and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard, where he later became the university's inaugural Director of Biochemical Laboratories. He first joined MGH in 1983 as its first Director of Molecular Biology Laboratories, later led scientific operations at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, and returned to MGH in 2012 to lead its research enterprise until his retirement in 2022. He also served 34 years in the U.S. Army Reserves, retiring as a full colonel, and has long been recognized for his work bringing science education to Boston-area schools.

Dr. Isaac Schiff is the Joe Vincent Meigs Distinguished Professor of Gynecology, Emeritus, at Harvard Medical School and the former Chief of the Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Service at Massachusetts General Hospital, a post he held from 1988 until 2015. A graduate of McGill Medical School, he trained in obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive endocrinology at what is now Brigham and Women's Hospital before leading MGH's OB/GYN service, where he helped launch its obstetrics and IVF programs. He is a past president of the North American Menopause Society and former editor-in-chief of its journal, Menopause, and is a Member of the Order of Canada.

Dr. Nancy Tarbell is the C.C. Wang Professor Emerita of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and a leading authority on pediatric brain tumors and proton radiation therapy. She earned her medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University and trained at the Harvard Joint Center for Radiation Therapy, later leading pediatric radiation oncology at MGH and Boston Children's Hospital. She was the first woman to become a full professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School and served as Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs there from 2008 to 2019. Elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2002, she has authored more than 300 publications and is a longtime advocate for faculty development and women in academic medicine.