Dr. Takara Scott was born and raised on the island of St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. She settled in Atlanta and completed her Bachelor of Science degree with honors of magna cum laude at Georgia State University (GSU). After losing a grandfather to the complications of prostate cancer, Dr. Scott was determined to make a difference in the health and lives of men with prostate cancer. Fortunately, a research opportunity lent itself. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree Dr. Scott pursued research training as a Laboratory Manager and Research Specialist in the prostate cancer lab of Dr. John Petros at Emory University School of Medicine.   For almost three years she was involved in health disparities prostate cancer mitochondrial DNA genetic research.  Some of her research entailed the study of mitochondrial DNA variations between Caucasian and African-American men with prostate cancer.  Dr. Scott then furthered her education at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) where she completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Research. 

Her passion and ultimate career goal to become a successful biotech industry scientist working alongside a collaborative, multidisciplinary translational research team dedicated to solving key human cancers by linking genomic discoveries to personalized healthcare has led to her past roles as a clinical genomic liaison at GenomeDx Biosciences, Senior Manager, Medical Science Liaison at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and her current role as Associate Director, Medical Science Liaison at Foundation Medicine.

At GenomeDx, Dr. Scott was directly involved in supporting biomarker clinical risk assessment and analysis of men with prostate and bladder cancer using genomic classifiers. As a gastroenterology and uro-oncologic medical science liaison at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, she supported degarelix-an androgen deprivation treatment for men with advanced hormone-dependent prostate cancer, desmopressin-sublingual lyophilizate tablets indicated for treatment of nocturia due to idiopathic nocturnal polyuria in adults.  She also supported fecal microbiota, live —jslm) a novel first-in-class microbiome-based treatment used for the prevention of recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in individuals 18 years of age and older.

She continues to help transform cancer care in her current role at Foundation Medicine.  In addition to her direct involvement in genomic cancer research, she continues to educate physicians, scientists, patient groups, thought leaders and other healthcare professionals on innovative, personalized, and comprehensive therapeutic approaches offered through Foundation Medicine Testing.

Foundation Medicine’s portfolio of FDA-approved comprehensive genomic profiling tests offer physicians blood and tissue-based testing options for detecting genomic alterations that help guide personalized treatment decisions. Currently, Foundation Medicine is the leader in companion diagnostic approvals with over 60% of all companion diagnostic approvals for next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing in the U.S. FMI as a pioneer in cancer molecular profiling works to shape the future of clinical care and research by collaborating with a broad range of partners across the cancer community striving to set the standard for quality, scientific excellenceh, and regulatory leadership. FMI helps physicians make informed treatment decisions for their patients and empowers researchers to develop new medicines through its deep understanding of the genomic mutations that drive cancer.

When Dr. Scott is not busy analyzing clinical data or helping to generate treatment solutions to a myriad of human cancers, she enjoys spending time with her family, especially her 1-year-old baby girl, reading, writing, ZUMBA, cooking, traveling and learning about new cultures

EDUCATION:

Dec 2015          Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), Atlanta, GA

May 2008          Bachelors of Science in Biological Sciences, Georgia State University (GSU), Atlanta, GA

                        Minor: Chemistry, Honors with Distinction: Magna cum Laude

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS:

2020 Morehouse School of Medicine Professional Achievement Award

2019 Nominated by Medical Science Liaison Society as Top 10 US Medical Science Liaison

2014 ORAU-MARS Fellow and USA Student Delegate to the 64th Nobel Laureate Meetings, Lindau,
Germany

2013 Frontiers in Cancer Stem Cell Research Fellow, Washington, DC
 
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

1.  Sudhir Unni, Takara Scott, Mena Boules, Christie Teigland, Alexis Parente, Winnie Nelson “Healthcare
Burden and Costs of Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection in the Medicare Population.” AMCP 2020 

2. Walter Rayford, Jordan Alger, Mandeep Takhar, Jennifer Jordan,Nick Fishbane, Takara Scott, Jill
Collins, Britney Bender, Nicholas Erho, Elai Davicioni, et al “Comparative Genomic Analysis of 1,043
African-American and Non-African American prostate cancers: A Report from the Decipher Grid
Collaborative,” Journal of Urology, 2018,199,4S (e1062).

3. Takara A. Scott and Jason Alter. "A Novel Personalized Genomic Approach" 2016. Prostate Cancer
Communication.

4. Takara A. Scott, Rebecca S. Arnold, John A. Petros. “Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Subunit 1
Variation in Prostate Cancer.”  Scientifica, vol. 2012. Article ID: 701810, 7 pages.

5. Rebecca S. Arnold, Natalia V. Markova, Adeboye O. Osunkoya, Suganthi Suppiah, Takara A. Scott,
Nicole A. Johnson, Sushma M. Bhosle, Denns Liotta, Eric Hunter, Fray F. Marshall, Hinh Ly, Ross J
Molinaro, Jerry L. Blackwell, and John Petros.  “XMRV Infection in Patients with Prostate Cancer: Novel
Serologic Assay and Correlation with PCR and FISH.”  Urology, Vol.75, Issue 4, April 2010, Pages 755-
761.
 
SELECTED PROSTATE CANCER PATIENT SUPPORT GROUPS LECTURE:

Takara A. Scott, PhD, Guest Speaker, “Biomarker Testing for Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer.”
Zero Prostate Group, November 2, 2021.

Takara A. Scott, PhD, Guest Speaker, “Genomic Testing for Me: Solutions for Advanced and Recurrent
Prostate Cancer.” Prostate Cancer Today, March 2017, Punta Gorda, FL

Takara A. Scott, PhD, Guest Speaker, “Is Decipher Right For Me? Information for Life.” Ohio Prostate
Cancer Information Group, August 30, 2017, Cincinnati, Ohio.