Jeffrey named to new Warnock endowed professorship

Stefanie Jeffrey

Stefanie Jeffrey, MD, professor of surgery and chief of surgical oncology research, has been appointed the John and Marva Warnock Professor.

Jeffrey’s laboratory profiles the molecular characteristics of cancer cells and tests various drugs on metastasizing cells, with the goal of identifying tumor-specific therapies for the personalized treatment of cancer. She led a team that invented a device that extracts and purifies live, circulating tumor cells from blood for genomic profiling and growth in culture. Her lab is now developing a drug-testing chip to help guide selection of appropriate therapies for individual cancer patients.

The professorship is named for John Warnock, PhD, co-chairman of the board of directors and co-founder of Adobe Systems Inc., and his wife, Mary, a designer and partner with Marsh Design in Palo Alto.

In 2001, the couple established the John and Marva Warnock Faculty Scholar Fund to support a non-tenured faculty member in the field of cancer research. Jeffrey has held the faculty scholar position since its creation. In keeping with the Warnocks’ intentions, expressed when they established the faculty scholar fund, the Board of Trustees approved its conversion to a professorship fund after Jeffrey was promoted to full professor.