MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Carolyn B. Hendricks, M.D.

BIOGRAPHY

An oncologist specializing in breast cancer, Carolyn Hendricks, M.D. is helping to lead the fight against this devastating disease, preferring to provide comprehensive treatment at the local level rather then send patients miles away to large specialized facilities.

Praised for her involvement in clinical trials of breast cancer, she brings wide knowledge and support to community groups, helping to educate people about breast cancer and its treatment.

As a child, Hendricks was inspired by her father, a pathologist, to become a doctor. She began her career in medicine with an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital followed by a fellowship, and later a senior fellowship, in clinical oncology at Baltimore's famed Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Nominated as a Local Legend of Medicine by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-8), she is the recipient of an American Cancer Society's Clinical Fellowship Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Minority Medical Faculty Development Award. Her work is nationally recognized, and she has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey and other television shows to discuss breast cancer.

Along with her clinical work in breast cancer, she is the co-medical director of Montgomery Hospice in suburban Rockville, and serves as a trustee on the board of Suburban Hospital Healthcare System. Among her contributions to her community, she has provided breast screening for the uninsured.

Hendricks also has led the Multidisciplinary Genetic Risk Assessment Team at the Suburban Breast Center, in Bethesda, where she is active in clinical trials for breast cancer. Her work on the National Mammography Board of Quality Assurance is widely praised. "We are trying always to maintain high quality standards for mammograms," she reports. "It's one of the most important things about fighting breast cancer."

She has published several articles on breast cancer and served as medical advisor for the book "Healing Outside the Margins."

"I've been fortunate to find an area where I can really contribute," she says. "In breast cancer, the playing field is moving–so much is happening, staying current is a real necessity. We've made great progress in understanding some of the risk factors in breast cancer. Now we always talk with our patients about the basic science of breast cancer."

"But, we also realize that breast cancer is complex, and the cure allusive. Fifteen years ago there was no basic science used when explaining breast cancer to patients. Now they are more sophisticated and want to know about the science, and we can explain much of it. Patients today expect more information and are reading more of the science behind breast cancer on the internet. Now we need to find a cure."

"One of my greatest accomplishments is my family–I have a son and a daughter and an incredibly supportive husband. But beyond that I would like to be remembered for bringing breast cancer screenings and treatment to the community, and helping those who need it most."