Dr. Vera Donnenberg is an Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh with a secondary appointment in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy. She is an Affiliate to the Council of Faculty and Academic Societies for the Association of American Medical Colleges (CFAS-AAMC), where she served as a member of the Administrative Board. She also served as a Regent of the Board of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) and currently serves as an Ambassador to the Eurasian Hematology Oncology Group, an international organization that promotes oncology research and clinical interventions in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Americas.

Dr. Donnenberg earned her MS in Clinical Pharmacology in 1994 from Johns Hopkins University and her PhD with Honors in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2002 from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Donnenberg’s research focuses on: 1.) Tumorigenic stem cells in lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and breast cancer; 2.) Pleural metastases; 3.) Therapeutic resistance; 4.) Interaction of tumor cells and regenerating tissue; 5.) Lung immunology; and 6.) Pleural immuno-oncology.

Dr. Donnenberg has written over 395 publications, abstracts, book chapters, and other scientific presentations.  Throughout her career she has received numerous awards for her academic and service efforts including the Nathaniel Kwitt Distinguished Service Award from the ACCP (2020), the Marylou Ingram Woman in Science Award from the Coulter Foundation, the Governor’s Distinguished Citizenship Award, Maryland, and the Service Award from the National Society of Black Engineers.  She is a member of several editorial boards including the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and is an Associate Editor of Cytometry, Stem Cells, a leading journal in the field of imaging and cytometry, and served as the first female President of the Great Lakes Flow Cytometry Association.

View a list of Dr. Donnenberg’s publications here.