Mary Hendrix, PhD, received her B.S. degree in Biology/Pre-Med from Shepherd College (now called Shepherd University) in 1974, her PhD. in Anatomy from George Washington University in 1977, and an honorary DSc. in 1996 from Shepherd College. Dr. Hendrix was an NIH Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology from 1977 to 1980; Assistant, Associate and Professor (and Associate Head) at the University of Arizona from 1980-1993 and served as an Arizona Disease Control Research Commissioner from 1985 to 1994. She was the Immuno-US Endowed Professor and Director of the Pediatric Research Institute, St. Louis University School of Medicine and Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital from 1994-1996, prior to joining the faculty of The University of Iowa as the Leading Woman Scientist Endowment Recipient and Head of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in June 1996. She also served as the Kate Daum Research Professor, and Associate Director of Basic Research and Deputy Director for The Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Iowa, for the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine from 1996-2004.

Currently, she serves as President and Scientific Director for the Children's Memorial Research Center and the Medical Research Institute Council Professor, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is the US Editor of Pathology Oncology Research, and Member of the Editorial Boards of Clinical Cancer Research, Developmental Dynamics, Cancer Biology and Therapy, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, Proteomics, Cancer Research, and the American Journal of Pathology. She is a Past-President of FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) consisting of over 70,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research societies in the United States. She also serves on the National Advisory Council for the Human Genome Research Institute, the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences, and the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors, and is on the Board of Directors for Research!America, and was the Co-Director of the Virtual Naval Hospital Program, which addresses the medical education needs of service personnel at remote sites. Dr. Hendrix is a Past-President of the Association of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology Chairpersons (AACBNC). She has over 200 publications in biomedical research, including her recently edited book on Maspin, a novel serine protease inhibitor, and is the recipient of a MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute. She is also the 2004 Australian Society for Medical Research Lecturer and Medal Recipient for research and advocacy, and the 2006 recipient of the Henry Grey Award for life-time achievements in the anatomical sciences.

Dr. Hendrix's scientific objectives include identifying genes which contribute to cancer metastasis and other related diseases which exhibit similar biological activities. Her major goal is to define important structure/function relationships, which provide the biological basis for new therapeutic strategies. Recent studies, in collaboration with the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH and the Translational Genomics Research Institute have generated molecular classification(s) of specific tumors, and have provided new prognostic markers and novel targets for therapeutic intervention. Current research activities focus on elucidating how regulatory molecules and phenotype control genes govern cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix interactions, epithelial/mesenchymal transitions, and motility. Specific projects include signal transduction events initiated by cell adhesion molecules and growth factors; factors regulating interconversion of the tumor cell phenotype; regulation of matrix metalloproteinases by tumor and stromal cell interactions; tumor angiogenesis and vasculogenesis; role of the microenvironment in inducing and maintaining an aberrant cellular phenotype; and the identification of stem cell subpopulations within tumors.

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